To be or not to be a full time theater critic ? The Odéon has the answer.
When I’m sitting in a theater feeling clueless or falling asleep, I often wonder whether being a full time theater critic might not be a dream job after all.
Last night, as I strained to understand and hear Matthias Langhoff’s Hamlet Cabaret, I decided to keep my day job.
Matthias Langhoff, the so called “enfant terrible” of German contemporary theater, has created his own version of Hamlet entitled: “In a red coat, the dew crosses the morning when on its way, blood appears or Ham. and Ex by William Shakespeare a Hamlet Cabaret”. The Brechtien influence is there as is all the crazy experimental theatre of the 60s and 70s. But what is missing is any coherent concept. Reading the program doesn’t help – it is gibberish.
Langhoff tortures old Will in as many ways he can find. You sit through it looking at your watch but despite yourself, occasionally, there is a funny line, a gag, a song. What Langhoff does do well is the staging/scenery. The stage is set up like a cabaret with musicians in an oyster shell and round tables instead of chairs. The scenes change with a turning stage, there is neon, there is video, there are ventian blinds and there is even a horse (a real one). Perceptions are shattered, you are bombarded with images.
The acting is another issue. Langhoff forces non-singers to sing, which is not fair. He then has them say their lines as if they were passing an oral exam.. A few manage to stand out despite the misconceived direction. François Chattot’s Hamlet is moving and believable as he gets closer and closer to insanity. He is extraordinary when he delivers the famous soliloquy with a single lightbulb from a balcony (Juliet reference?) and very funny when he conducts a make shift recorder orchestra. On the other hand, Anatole Koama who plays Cornelius is a cardboard effigy and basically incomprehensible. Hearing Agnès Dewitt say “my lord” several hundred times is pretty much the extent of her performance (except if you count running back and forth on a table) . Jean-Marc Stehlé as the defunct king, ghost and actor is commendable as well.
Finally, I have two confessions to make: the above is only a review of the first half (all two hours and 15 minutes of it) of the four hour and thirty minute show. I took the liberty (as a non-professional critic) to leave at the intermission. Secondly, I confess that what is put on at the Odéon is generally out of my league or is trying very hard to be. At least in this production (or at least the part I saw), there was no gratuitous nudity. A first for me at the Odéon.
http://www.theatre-odeon.fr/fr/la_saison/les_spectacles_2009_10/accueil-f-314.htm
Gail
© Etat-critique.com - 22/11/2009
