Back from France...as I'd suspected, my technotwit tendencies (or inadequate laptop) prevented any blogging en route.
My play 'A Walk through the End of Time' was premiered on Saturday as part of the opening night of the Consonances Festival - a privilege indeed, and an astonishing experience.
The Alveole 14 of St Nazaire's former Nazi submarine base eyesore has been renamed LIFE and transformed into a venue for experimental performing arts which turned out to have a startlingly good acoustic; ours was the first show to take place inside it. Actors Marie-Christine Barrault and Charles Gonzales gave their all, director Ilonka van den Bercken from Amsterdam devised some beautiful coups-de-theatre, a young Dutch artist created projected drawings to illustrate the action in real time and the closing performance of the Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time by Charles Neidich, Philippe Graffin, Raphael Wallfisch and Claire Desert was unforgettable. And afterwards the mayor of St Nazaire awarded me a medal. :-)
More pics on my permasite. For the moment, above: the American War Memorial on the beach at St Nazaire; the set inside LIFE; and a would-be playwright with Raphael Wallfisch (left) and Philippe Graffin (right).
3 comments:
Congratulations, Jessica, on the premiere of your play and on this highly inspired -- and sublimely inspiring, blog! Brava! --Bashar Lulua
Glad to see you back! Missed you. Congratulations on your premiere! My, what a writer!
Rafael Wallfisch plus mum and at least one son was at Dartington, where amongst others he had an almost deaf French cellist in his masterclass - I am told he dealt with it very creatively. Seems like a lovely guy, and his son Simon (or is it Benjamin?), the budding singer, has an astonishing voice!
The Wallfisch family is a real powerhouse! Simon is the singer. Benjamin is a composer and will be taking part in my Korngold round-table discussion at the Southbank on 27 October. Anita Wallfisch's lecture in Saint Nazaire about her experiences in Auschwitz was among the most moving experiences I can remember. The entire audience was reduced to tears. As the LIFE venue used to be a Nazi submarine base, you can imagine the impact.
Thanks for your kind words!
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