Theater: 52 years of anecdotes
July is a celebration of theater through the Festival d'Avignon.
The occasion for us to bring out this compilation of anecdotes.
52 years of history, of theater... from 1970 to 2022, discover these different stories with us. André Abbe takes us around Provence and Occitanie to meet these directors, actors and comedians.
1972: Occitan theater, protest against military camp rises
Spring 1972 in Figanières (Var): "lo darnier moton de Canjuers"
I'm only calling on my memories to evoke the first occitanist show I attended. I'm not going to ask André Neyton for anything. I'll keep it short.
It was Debré who wanted to turn the plan for Canjuers, the plateau of a hundred thousand sheep, into the largest military camp in Europe. Under Pompidou, the project became a reality.
Written by Gaston Beltrame and directed by André Neyton, the play was a happy marriage of humor and protest. Miquèla sang "O Magali ma tant amada". I've forgotten a lot.
At the end of the show, there was a round of applause, and then it was time for the debate, an institution in those days. The actors, tanned on the stage, stared straight into the eyes of the spectators, who stood their ground. After two minutes of heavy silence, I got fed up and asked, in substance, in Provençal or French, I don't remember, "what place does the langue d'Oc have in your show?"
One of the actors I didn't know yet, Jean-Yves Royer, replied with conviction, "It's a weapon". I remember that answer because I'd never imagined that my parents' language, which I didn't yet speak with them - it took me until I was well into my thirties to convince them - could be a weapon.
Almost 50 years later, I'm thinking that Occitan and its dialects were never a weapon, but they did prove to be useful tools. On radio and television, the spoken language provided a link between supporters of the "A" and "O" spellings. I spoke my maritime Provençal without anyone asking me which spelling I used.... Daniel Daumas once told me that a lady once asked him this funny question: "Which spelling do you sing in? Go figure.
And in Provençal? Yes, it's possible, and you can find some of André Abbe's words here!
My best night at the theater
It was 1974, and I had accompanied my friend Jean-Pierre Loubaton to the Porte Saint-Martin theater to attend a performance of "Good Bye Mr Freud" by Jérôme Savary and the Magic Circus, which I'd seen on TV but wasn't really interested in. Miraculously, I was enchanted by this original, humorous show and by the presence of Micheline Presle, my favorite French actress. I wasn't expecting to find her there, but the aioli was a hit between her and the Circus troupe.
I should point out in passing that the two most beautiful French actresses are of Auvergne origin: Micheline, whose real name was Chassagne, and Arletty (Léonie Bathiat).
In another miracle, it was announced at the end of the show that Guénolé Azerthiope's "Fénomenal Bazaar Illimited" would be performing "L'Apologue", that we were expected to attend, and that there would be a hat at the exit. Half the room had left, but Jean Pierre and I had stayed, of course.
Five or six actors, Jean-Paul Farré being the only one I saw again later in theater and film, read ridiculous, awful, funny or hilarious texts. The whole thing was hilarious. Farré, hallucinated, on the verge of ecstasy, read absolute praise for Comrade Stalin, comical and offbeat for us spectators who had since learned so much about Stalin.
At the end of the show, the actors would hand out a sheet of paper and say, in all seriousness, "take it, it's obligatory". On the sheet was the source of all the quotes.... the ode to Stalin was by Aragon. I never read another line from him.
I've been to hundreds of shows, more classical ones, dozens of which have thrilled me, but none has left me with such fond memories as this Magic (que) evening. Saint Martin had shared his mantle, Savary and Guénolé had shared the evening for our pleasure.
To find out more about this theatrical work, click here!
The 80s: Jan-Nouvè Tamisier alone on stage
In the 1970s and 1980s, he performed his one-man show "Viure au Païs es super cool" in Provence and Languedoc, a series of humorous sketches alternating between Provençal and French.
The customers at the grocer's, the old men on their benches, the grape-pickers in the vineyards who, come evening, attend an evening of Occitan songs...
Jan-Nouvè was a keen observer. In Les Arcs sur Argens (Var) and Cadenet (Vaucluse), he'd listen to the old folks out for a breath of fresh air and make the rounds of the grocery stores. In Roquebrune sur Argens (Var), every year he would do the grape harvest here, then go and do it in Saint Julien (Var).
There is an audio cassette of this show. The one I have is unfortunately inaudible today. I hope there is an original soundtrack that could one day bring this show back to life. To my knowledge, there is no equivalent in Occitan theater.
A little Provençal here !
"Avé l'assent
On France 4, I'm watching a performance of Molière's "Dom Juan". The director has emphasized the ridiculousness of the peasant and the peasant woman who are tricked by Dom Juan. And to add to their shabbiness, he's given them a Midi accent resembling that of Orane Demazis in Pagnol's Trilogie, to put it mildly. At the same time, I receive an e-mail informing me that a brand of GPS will give users the choice of receiving information in a Chti, Toulousian or Provençal accent: "Oh Bonne Mère, virez à droite dans la rue Roumanille". I find this joke-like initiative rather amusing.
Our accent is either pitiful or laughable to those in the know. With its access to radio and television, thanks in part to programs in regional languages, it is gradually gaining in dignity. Following the example of JM Apathie and O. Dartigolles, it's now possible to be a prominent journalist in Paris and still have an assertive "South-West" accent.
Courage speakers who express themselves "avé l'assent", you may one day become Prime Minister without being ridiculed by humorists in search of inspiration.
2010: tribute to Laurent Terzieff
He had died in July, and on December 5, 2010, a unique tribute evening was held at the Odéon.
The show was largely by invitation and sold out, but the lady in the press office offered me a seat in an orchestra folding chair near the stage. Terzieff was present by voice in a "Dialogue entre JS Bach et R.M Rilke". Gérard Caussé played cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach on viola. Comedians came to talk about Terzieff.
Tributes to deceased artists are often indigestible, but this was a poignant evening. The people present weren't just spectators, they were more than that. It's hard to explain, but when I like a show or am moved by it, I'm a bit like someone else, and when I leave I'm back to where I started, which isn't always easy. I must have seen a dozen plays at the Odéon, but I particularly liked two of them.
In November 1987, I saw half of "The Merchant of Venice" alone at the pigeonnier, with François Chaumette, Christine Fersen and Richard Fontana. Beautiful staging, magnificent actors.... but I had a fake appointment at the end of that Sunday afternoon with two people in charge of a magazine in Occitan to whom I was going to present Aquo d'Aqui. I'm so sorry I left at the interval for nothing.
In February 1988, 14-year-old François and I went up to Paris for the winter vacations. We went to see Miller's "Death of a Salesman" with Lisa, who was staying with us. I talked about it again recently with François, who liked it a lot. François Périer, Claude Winter, Paul Crauchet and the "brico market" gave me one of my fondest memories of the theater, thanks in part to François' presence. The company is just as important as the show seen on one evening.
At the end of the same stay, François and I went to see "Arturo Ui" with Guy Bedos at Chaillot.
All my theater outings with François were successful except for one: at the Chartreuse de Villeneuve, in Portuguese, in 88, texts by Pessoa to mark the centenary of his birth. François was
bored! He didn't understand a word Maria de Medeiros and Luis Miguel Cintra were saying. Even I didn't understand everything, I admit. But Pessoa's language is music to my ears. The next day, we left for Portugal via the Landes, in the company of the Bressons, which is why I had taken François to Fernando Pessoa's house. He sometimes talks about the "moldy plans" I imposed on him. It was a particularly painful one for him.
PS: I made a mistake, it was in December 93 that François and I saw Brecht's "La résistible ascension d'Arturo Ui" (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui), I checked in the computer, it's coming back to me now. It was savary, grandiose.
Find out more about Laurent Terziefff? Find a video of him in the Ina archives here!
2003: Paul Barras, revolutionary in Mirabeau's shadow
Paul Barras (1755-1829), patron saint of the Directoire, is less well known than his Provençal compatriot Mirabeau. Yet he was a key figure in the French Revolution.
André Neyton wrote and directed a remarkable play in 2003, in French and Provençal, "Barras, le vicomte à l'ail", which was performed in Barras's native village of Fox-Amphoux (Var), then in Toulon. Thanks to Neyton and the Centre Dramatique Occitan, we discover an endearing, picturesque and politically astute Barras. It was Barras who brought Bonaparte to power and invented Marianne, the symbol of the Republic. Miquèu Montanaro composed the show's lively music.
But who is André Neyton?
Author, actor, director of the Comédia theater in Toulon and his play "La légende noire du soldat O" (November 2004), evoking the sad fate of soldier Odde from Six Fours (Var), shot as an example in 1914. He wrote the play in both Occitan and French.
Also, as director of the Centre Dramatique Occitan, in March 2016 he gave the first four performances of the play "Moi, Gaston Dominici, assassin par défaut" at the Comédia in Toulon, of which he is the author and lead actor. In it, Neyton plays an Occitan-speaking Dominici who speaks poor French, much closer to the historical character than the Dominici played in the movies by Jean Gabin and then Michel Serrault.
Mobility difficulties forced André Neyton to give up performing the play "Moi, Gaston Dominici, assassin par défaut" (I, Gaston Dominici, murderer by default), which he also wrote and directed. Let's hope he can one day return to the stage to bring to life the tired, aged Dominici, who speaks good Occitan and little French. It seems difficult to find an elderly, Occitan-speaking actor capable of taking on the role. However, his crutches enable André to get around and entertain friends at the Comédia theater in Toulon. He is preparing this autumn's program, without being able to include this play.
Fortunately, a video recording of the show has been made for 2019. Actors from the Centre Dramatique Occitan play all the characters in the case: the Dominici family, the Marseilles commissioner, the Parisian journalist, the prison guard.... The DVD is available.
On August 4, 1952, 70 years ago, Gaston was found guilty of the triple murder of an English family. He escaped the death penalty.
At the Festival d'Avignon, I was In, I am Off
Classic repertory theater, contemporary theater, café theater, one-man shows, music halls, musicals... it's all theater, and I've often been wrong about the merchandise. I still have some memories, and here are a few of them.
The world's leading theater festival, Avignon has changed a lot in 50 years. Toappear original, not to be behind the times, has led us to a theater that is often indigestible.
After a free ambulatory performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" in the square of the Palais des Papes, Jean Pierre Joris expressed his sadness and disappointment. There was nothing left of what Jean Vilar had brought to life.
At the last one in July 2012, 87-year-old Joris was surrounded by young actors. He had been Rodrigue in Corneille's "Le Cid" in 1947, directed by Jean Vilar in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais. This elderly actor (who passed away in 2017) was a living witness to a bygone era, of a theater turned towards the people. An emotional moment for all spectators present. And then there's the Off and the friendly parades of troupes who come to promote themselves in the streets of the old town. That's my favorite part. Benedetto in his Théâtre des Carmes and Neyton under his island big top gave plays in Occitan in their day. You'll be hard pressed to find one this year, I'm afraid.
And what about today's festival? You can find the full program here !
Anne Clément, near her home in the Gard region of France
An actress, writer and author of plays in Occitan and French, she left her mark on Oc theater with her talent. I have fond memories of the reading of her text "Abraham Mazel, Camisard prophet". I was lucky enough to be invited.
She gave it in the very house where Abraham Mazel lived, in the heart of the Cévennes, I forget the name of the place. Perhaps it's better not to give it, to avoid too many people going there. I couldn't find Anne's current e-mail address, so I couldn't send her this photo.
Read more about it here!
2017: "La Mandragoura
2017. I attended a performance of Silviano (Sylviane) Mazza's "La Mandragoura" in old Nice this summer, performed in Niçois by Lou Rodou Nissart.
Capelado to the author and the company. It's becoming increasingly rare to hear theater in the langue d'Oc performed by actors who speak it well.
2019: Bruno Cécillon's final words
How about a smile? Bruno Cécillon's. Bruno directs Montpellier's Théâtre de la Rampe. This company has over 7,000 public performances to its credit. This interview was conducted by the Passadoc team in 2019.
I've never spent more than two hours at a time with Bruno, but it's happened often.
In the 80s, we met for the first time in the studios of FR3 Marseille
during the recording of the young program "Vaqui" (I don't know how to add the acute accent to the I), then I
often saw him perform in the theater. Finally, we met again, on the phone or in front of the microphones
of Radio lenga d'Oc in Montpellier.
Bruno has the good fortune to do well what he undertakes. He surprised me when he told me one day that he was more
than thirty years old when he learned Occitan. I was convinced that he spoke the language of his grandparents,
, so fluent was he.
The last time I saw him, we were demonstrating outside the Opera on Place de la Comédie, asking
for more Occitan on television. We're still waiting.
Answers