Gombrowiczshow, Sophie Perez, Xavier Boussiron, Cie du Zerep

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Sophie Perez &

Xavier Boussiron / Cie du Zerep

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Theatre-visual arts

Performances 5-7 November 08 at 8pm

No, Perez and Boussiron do not “stage” Gombrowicz, or if they do, it is in a raw way, seizing the book as if they were taming a wild creature, with authority, tenderness and a pinch of savagery. These enfants terribles of the theatre and visual arts scene give a renewed stance on the writings of a writer considered as one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century. Gombrowiczshow is an attempt at presenting an essay, a chronicle or a vast reference to the book Possessed. In this show Gombrowicz is present in all his different aspects. This review strangely aims at entertaining their peers, like a profound and crazy “Witold party” on the 40th anniversary of his death.

“This is not a tribute, it is like working with a colleague. Except he’s dead and we never knew him... but deep down we have understood him very well.” Xavier Boussiron

“What’s the link between quenelles and contemporary dance? We are it.” Compagnie du Zerep

“I like this clever side of French people, who never get involved in anything too extremely.” Witold Gombrowicz

See flyer (pdf in french/204kb)

See press book (pdf in french/308kb)

See poster (pdf in french/2.5mo)

See synopsis (pdf in french/48kb)

Why did you want to work on Gombrowicz?

Sophie Perez: We’d been wanting to dive into his oeuvre for a long time. When we met ten years ago, we were both massive fans of Elvis and Gombrowicz. We’d read everything. Since we met and started working together, there have always been bits of Gombrowicz’s wisdom scattered throughout our work.

What do you particularly like in Gombrowicz’s books?

Xavier Boussiron: We love his attitude beyond literature, his funny way of dealing with philosophy, and his writing style, which all combine to make him more of an all-round artist than a mere writer. A very strong energy transpires from his work. We chose Possessed as the basis for the Gombrowiczshow. This book exudes a very strong spirit of parody: Gombrowicz wrote this novel in the style of cheesy airport novels (in his own words) into which he still managed to incorporate things that are essential to his artistic approach. In Possessed you can find concepts dear to Gombrowicz’s heart: a sort of psychological matter is at work, a type of maturity which is the prerogative of everybody, whether these people are in a lofty or fragile position. It could be viewed as a psychological class struggle.

You said you wanted to adapt the whole book, how will you do that on stage?

SP: Paradoxically, we were interested in what was outside of the theatre, what deals with Goya, cascades, exhaustion, symbolism, and what he calls a cascade of characters. To me these things are close to what we like to deal with in our work: the manipulative relationships between people, the idea of painting, strange rhythms, accumulations and widely stretched things. At the root of Possessed, Gombrowicz and a mate of his say to each other: we’ll make tons of money, we’ll write a cheesy novel. But suddenly, writing a mainstream book turned out to be much more difficult than to write for the “elite”. I believe this aspect is close to our work, which can be very critical but also very simple to grasp. In fact, Gombrowicz always talks about the form, but there also is a sort of avalanche of words and complex ideas. In order to write our show, we will use excerpts from Possessed (the common theme of the play), excerpts from the interviews of A Kind of Testament, one interview by Michel Polac and our own texts. This production is a tribute to Gombrowicz, a portrait based on this author.

Is it a story on Gombrovicz?

XB: It is not a biography, we don’t tell the story of his life, but we are trying to tell how his books work. Words are very important of course, but there is also a strong sense of directing and intrigue, in the way he uses pre-existing forms in order to develop or defeat them. This is the problem we have with parody: it is hard to know whether we should focus our work on things we love or things we hate.

You’d already used parody with Musset, will it be the case with Gombrowicz too?

XB: We had a grudge against what Musset represented. We were going against the grain. The problem with Gombrowicz is that we like him a lot. I only know well the works of a dozen of writers at the most and he is one of them. He stands somewhere between Jarry, Brautigan, Schopenhauer, and Gross. How can we process him? That’s what we’ll try to resolve. It’s not a tribute, it’s like working with a colleague. Except he’s dead and we never knew him... but deep down we have understood him very well.

Parcours

Xavier Boussiron, a graduate from the School of Fine Arts of Bordeaux, has created among other things “B-rated” concerts/performances entitled Menace de mort et son orchestre. Sophie Perez, ESAT graduate and former tenant of Villa Medicis in Rome, developed her work on atypical locations and texts. Together they have directed Leutti (conférence sur les maladies nerveuses), Le coup du cric andalou performed at Manège de Maubeuge and Centre Georges Pompidou, Laisse les gondoles à Venise performed at Théâtre National de Chaillot, and Enjambe Charles at Centre Pompidou in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, they create at Les Subsistances Faire mettre during the Ça Change! WeekEnd. During the Avignon Festival in 2008, they worked with Olivier Dubois on the production entitled Faune(s).

Witold Gombrowicz (1904-1969) is an avant-garde Polish writer, exiled in Argentina aged 35, who claims personal freedom and creativity in his books. His novels and theatre plays are characterised by an in-depth psychological analysis, a sense of paradox, and an anti-nationalist and humorous, sometimes even light-hearted tone. He has written novels like Ferdydurke in 1936, Pornography in 1960, Cosmos in 1964 (International Literature Prize in 1967) and plays such as Yvonne, Princess of Burgundy in 1938, The marriage in 1965, and Operette in 1967.

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Created by Sophie Perez & Xavier Boussiron.

Texts: Witold Gombrowicz, Sophie Perez, Xavier Boussiron.

Scenography by Sophie Perez & Xavier Boussiron.

Costumes by Sophie Perez & Corine Petitpierre.

Music: Xavier Boussiron.

Graphics and Stage Manager: Laurent Friquet.

Lighting by Fabrice Combier.

With Sophie Lenoir, Stéphane Roger, Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus, Françoise Klein, Marlène Saldana, and the musicians: Marie-Pierre Brébant, Xavier Boussiron (cast TBC).

Lighting by Jérôme Delporte.

Sound by Sébastien Villeroy.

Stage Manager: Anne Wagner aka Reinhardt.

Admin: Sophie Pulicani.

Co-production & Residence: Les Subsistances / Lyon / France.

Production & Residence: Compagnie du Zerep, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Nouveau Théâtre d’Angers – Centre Dramatique National des Pays de la Loire, CNDC Centre national de danse contemporaine - Angers, Centre National de Création et de Diffusion Culturelles de Châteauvallon.

With the help of ARCADI.