The blog is going away but the reviews are not. You can find them here in the online print edition.
Home > ATLarts > Archives > 2008 > September > 11 > Entry
How Will ATL’s French Play Play with the French?
THEATER PREVIEW "Voir un Ami Pleurer" by Olivier Coyette. Theatre du Reve at the 14th Street Playhouse at the corner of Juniper and 14th St. in Midtown. 404-733-5000, www.theatredureve.com
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before the flames from the 9/11 attacks had been doused, a leading Paris newspaper published an iconic editorial: “Today we are all Americans.” Among Europeans, the era of fashionable anti-Americanism collapsed one dreadful morning against a blue September sky.
That emotional alliance — accompanied by hazy questions of what it means to be an American or a European — sparked a play by a Belgian playwright, commissioned by a French-language theater in Atlanta and given its world premiere in January, in Atlanta.
Now our Theatre du Reve is reviving Olivier Coyette’s “Voir un Ami Pleurer” — “To See a Friend Cry” — this weekend at the 14th St. Playhouse in Midtown.
It’s a preview for November, when they’ll take the whole productions to Paris. “I thought it would be a lot more political,” says Park Krausen, du Reve’s artistic director, recalling the project’s genesis with Coyette and Paris-based director Valery Warnotte. “It’s a very funny comedy with edge to it, about America’s suffering and how the rest of the world deals with that.
“What have we done that we can be easily empathized with, or not empathized with,” Krausen summarizes.
In the play, language — sometimes French, sometimes English (with supertitle translations) — is used theatrically, and the satire is broad-brushed, with a dose of absurdity. 9/11 is never actually mentioned in the script.
The du Reve actors are all Francophone Americans. For them, taking the play to Paris for four performances is the dream made real. Thanks to director Warnotte’s connections, they’ve secured a playhouse in the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, near the modern-art space Centre Pompidou.
The biggest difference between performing “Voir un Ami Pleurer” in Atlanta and in Paris? Krausen doesn’t hesitate: “We feel the [cross-cultural] dialogue that won’t be complete till we go to France, get a reaction from the Parisians, and talk to the public afterwards in the cafe that’s connected to the theater. The French love to talk over a play with the actors. We can hardly wait.”
Gala Re-opening and Tribute to Dick Munroe at TROIS following the show: Thursday, September 11 - 7:30 Showtime, Gala to follow Tickets $45
Friday, September 12 - 8pm showtime Tickets $15-$25
Saturday, September 13 - 8pm showtime Tickets $15-$25
Sunday, September 14 - 3pm showtime Tickets $15-$25
14th Street Playhouse Box Office Number: 404-733-5000
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Theater
Comments
By BPJ
September 11, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this
I encourage people to see this terrific play; you don’t have to understand French for this one.
By Gail Starr
September 12, 2008 7:51 AM | Link to this
We saw the previews at Oglethorpe and it is REALLY funny! with super-titles you’ll have no problem with the French. Definitely plan to check it out.
By Robert Schanke
December 3, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this
I am writing a book where I want to discuss in one chapter Dick Munroe and his Pocket Theatre as well as a couple of productions. I can find nothing about Munroe, nothing about the theatre, and no reviews. Do y ou have any suggestions where I can look. I, unfortunately, live in Iowa, so I cannot get to Atlanta easily.