Rosmersholm at the Théâtre de la Colline:Paris
Daniel Kessler
director St�phan Braunschweig for having done so at the Th��tre de la
Colline in Paris in his cycle of mounting Ibsen's plays, just concluding
that I saw last weekend.
For the past several years Braunschweig's been running this theater...
far over on the Right Bank near the cemitaire de P�re La Chaise (where
Oscar Wilde and Maria Callas were laid to rest).
It takes a great director and a leap of faith to approach Ibsen's oeuvre
and this particular complex piece... where one is meant to drink from
one of Ibsen's dankest cysterns...a huge challenge seldom met!
The men were wonderful. As to the crucial role of Rebecca West ...that
of the French actress ... Maud Le Grevellec, an attractive sylph-like
woman was a tad bit of a disappointment...maybe too young...perhaps I
was expecting a French reincarnation of Irene Worth.
I never saw Irene Worth as Rebecca...but did see her as Hedda Gabler
which was not all that wonderful...still...I'm thinking she would have
found Rebecca West a better fit!
Mme Grevellec as Rebecca wasn't all that bad. Also I should mention
that Philippe Gerard, the incredible "Brand" of several years ago at the
Th��tre de la Colline ...appeared this time in the play "A Doll's House"
which followed...although in a minor role but a totally different
one...that of "Doctor Rank." But what a range Philippe Gerard has!
This St�phane Braunschweig double-bill... "Une Maison de poup�e" (A
Doll's House) was done in the current fashion ..."a white box" concept
currently in vogue in Europe. The walls are white, the furniture
"white" and so on...
Can Ibsen's plays be taken from their time-frame...not sure and put into
a "white box? Not sure!
On this occasion...I was able to "kill two birds with one stone"....in
that both plays were given in one evening..."Rosmersholm" at 5 PM and "A
Doll's House" at 8 PM. with just enough time to scamper off after the
two performances to catch the neary Metro to travel all across Paris to
get back to my hotel.. The Th��tre de la Colline does serve up food in
the lobby below between the running of the two plays.
I was attracted to travel to Paris to take in M. Braunsweig bold
enterprise because it was he who gave me the best Ibsen "Brand"
ever...also at the Th��tre de la Colline...that was back in May, 2005.
And let us not forget that Ibsen's "Brand" is seldom done).
I happened to note...in the interim, a couple of years ago... St�phane
Braunschweig also mounted "Les Revenants" or Ibsen's "Ghosts."
But hey..."Ghosts" gets done with a fair amount of regularity so I
shouldn't have to run off to Paris to catch a production.
The double suicide at the conclusion of "Rosmersholm" when it becomes
apparent that the pastor and his live-in helper Rebecca who have fallen
in love and are really brother and sister (the sister a lost foundling
after birth)...the two "face the music" and head for the nearby mill
race to leap to their deaths in the fast flowing water...then the maid
(Mrs. Helseth) appears in the room with the open door, witnessing the
two at their moment of the "leap"
...the actress in question playing the housekeeper had a face that only
the caricaturist Domier would have loved...as seen in those
cartouches...she grimaced in horror as she slowly witnessed the double
suicide...then sat down on a nearby chair as if to catch her breath. I
shall never forget that contorted large face of Mrs. Helseth, the
actress Annie Mercier registering her disbelief of the scene of horror
she had just witnessed as the curtain slowly fell.
Incidentally, Annie Mercier also did double-duty...playimg the role of
Anne-Marie in the subsequent "A Doll's House," that of another
housekeeper.
In "A Doll's House"...actress Chlo� R�jon was a diminutive, waif-like
Nora... not what I'm used to in that role in terms of physique du
role...but she won my esteem and respect and to my amazement...her face
seemed to actually morph into a more mature and older woman by the
play's conclusion...and that's what you call great acting!
Eric Caruso was not necessarily my idea of what a "Helmer" should look
like...I'm speaking of Nora's husband...Eric Caruso had a bit of a
tummy...I guess I'm used to skinny actors in that role.