Inside the Abbaye des Prémontrés, everything resonates. The footsteps of visitors, especially theater people. But also curious people who came to visit this small town nestled between Metz and Nancy, in Lorraine. If you listen carefully, it is even possible to hear, at the turn of the immense corridors, the discussions of the spectators arranged in small circles to discuss the last performance they came to see. And then the electric guitars that accompany a show being set up, the music of which resounds from the large library.
This year again, the huge 18th century building is hosting the Summer Monsoon. A setting of choice for these theatrical meetings, which since 1995 have programmed directors from all over the world – from Portugal to Cameroon, via Norway. With a major challenge, “putting into space” in just twelve hours plays with actors selected by a committee. When they put down their suitcases at the Monsoon, the playwrights only have their script under their arm and must improvise. Minimal decor and actors text by hand, the objective is assumed: you have to hear the roughness of the language of the artists, their singularities, their rhythm. The text and nothing else.
On the programming side, some texts have already been edited in France or abroad. Some names are known to the general public. We can recognize that of Tiago Rodrigues, new director of the Avignon festival or Géraldine Martineau, resident of the Comédie-Française. These celebrities share the poster with young artists, more confidential, “who have something to say about the current world”, as its director, Véronique Bellegarde, explains to us. The festival claims to be a launching pad for young authors.
On Friday, the public rubs shoulders with the lyricism of Quebecer Steve Gagnon. The spectators take place under a small tent while the actors wait under the chestnut trees of the park which surrounds the abbey. It is the author himself who introduces the performance before tackling the technique. “I hope you like it,” he says, smiling shyly, before starting Splitting the lakes, the story of eight characters locked up in a small fishing village in Canada. The camera depicts friends who argue, members of the same family who tear each other apart. With a common goal, to escape the Canadian landscapes, which suffocate anyone growing up there. The whole, a little noisy in places – the characters never stop arguing -, caused a sensation with the public.
Later, a man comes up to the director in the corridors of the abbey to tell him that the text touched him a lot. “If you liked it, come to the round table afterwards!”, Enjoins the other, all smiles. Because it is part of the Monsoon program. As soon as the performance ends, the spectators are invited to discuss it with the director. The chairs are moved by a few volunteers and the author goes on stage for a “conversation” around what has just been seen.
“I appeal to your indulgence, because, it is the game of the festival, the actors only had twelve hours to rehearse”, recalls the host of the debate. Faced with the assembly made up in part of trainees who had come to learn theatrical writing techniques, he launched hostilities. The author is held accountable. If he is enthusiastic about the quality of the writing, he points out certain redundancies in the staging. “It was inevitably awkward with so few hours of rehearsals. With a little more time, we could have refined certain passages. That was the whole challenge”, concedes the director. The public, curious, questions him about the genesis of his work. “Well, you noticed, I am very neurotic. But I’m sure I’m not the only one…”, laughs the interested party.
The debate quickly turns to the specifics of new writing in Canada, which really emerged in the sixties. Steve Gagnon claims the use of joual, the usual language of Canadians: “Before, it was the dictatorship of French in France. No one dared write in Canadian slang. It is a capital shock in the history of Quebec to dare to write in its language”.
The program crosses the Atlantic for its second part of the day. This time, it is Véronique Bellegarde, the director of La Mousson, who puts in space a translated text for the festival. The large library of the abbey, filled with fold-out seats for the occasion, was packed. She chose to present Cet air infini by the Spaniard Lluïsa Cunillé. The text depicts the wanderings of an immigrant engineer and a woman released from prison who wonder about the future. The talented Géraldine Martineau, actress and director, embodies this second voice. Accompanied by the guitar, the actors launch into lyrical flights, sometimes stumble over certain words. For this spontaneous staging, sometimes they no longer need a memory aid, sometimes they come back to it.
Another reading orchestrated by the same Géraldine Martineau is scheduled for the end of the evening. The director has staged the text of the French Marie Piemontese and Florent Trochel, The authentic lives of Phinéas Gage. Before that, local politicians came to inaugurate the festival over a glass of wine. In the large room where the volunteers run the bar, the sound of heels echoes again on the checkerboard tiles. Not far from the glasses erected in a pyramid, it is possible to buy the texts of the published authors. Later in the evening, author and director Gérard Watkins will perform in concert. Wherever you go in the abbey, the theater is never far away.
The Summer Monsoon, Prémontrés Abbey, Pont-à-Mousson (54), from August 24 to 30. Tel.: 03 83 81 20 22. www.meec.org
