Les jardins des délices

4) Rendre vivant le spectacle : interview des acteurs/metteuse en scène, photos, extrait du texte

After having seen the show the night before, we took to the Malian theater to join in a tour of the set offered in conjunction with a round table lunch talk. To our surprise, several of the actors from the show were there to great us and answer any of our questions. We had the unique opportunity of walking through the set, even jumping on the bus for a quick tour, with the actors who let us pose questions about the meaning of the play and how they chose to interpret their individual roles. To say that “Le Jardin des Delices” is ambiguous would be to drastically understate the obvious. Rooted in an equally particular and intriguing painting, the inspiration for each actor was subject to their own personal connection and interpretation of the work. As mentioned before, the bulk of the creative process was entirely improv, which meant that the structure of the play relied heavily on the collective of individual meaning and interpretation, much like life. Director Philippe Quesne refused to give concrete explanations of what the actors were meant to be portraying and left the development of the piece in the skillful hands of his troupe. Without so much as a name to call oneself, the actors had to find meaning in the void. Although they had difficulties in the beginning coming to terms with the lack of information, one actress even going so far as to liken the process to the stages of grief, they eventually were able to create quite distinct characters. They took to wigs, various costumes, and props in the search of meaning. When asked how he prepared himself for a role without precursor, one actor described his art of preparation as getting a clear picture of what called to him and using those elements to give meaning and life to his character. He immediately took to the long wig and heels and from there the movements that he is so characteristically known from emerged. Others vacillated from time to time wearing the wigs for weeks of preparation only to then change them completely. Alongside the choices in props, the individual actors were also asked to bring with themselves diverse texts that they felt related to the piece and the painting. Among these were songs, sound bites, poems, arias, sonnets, and excerpts from other works. Some of the most notable were the sonnets 35 and 8 by Shakespeare, Canto 18 from Dante’s Inferno among other excerpts from the work, and the iconic voice of Luciano Pavarotti singing “Ô Paradis sorti de l’onde” from the Opera Afrique. When asked what fueled these seeming random choices in texts, the actors revealed that they were pieces that felt inspired by the work of art. In fact, certain corresponding themes can be observed in each text. Most of them either elude or completely focus on elements of life and death, heaven and hell and the human experience. For example, while walking though the set, we were able to examine the props with the actors and in asking what the giant egg prop meant to the piece, one actor revealed that he did not know and in turn asked me for our interpretation. It was made clear to us that quite literally everything was left up to the interpretation of, not only the audience, but the actors as well. The fluidity of this type of preparation might lead one to think that there is no meaning or structure to the production, but what has emerged from these practices has in turn left the piece open to such interpretation that the meaning is as infinite as those who partake.

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