UNCOMMON CLAY: MOVING THROUGH THE COLLABORATIVE CREATION OF THE ROLE OF IN THE ASYLUM

A Thesis

Presented in Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for

the Degree ofMaster ofFine Arts in the

Graduate School ofThe Ohio State University

By

Naomi Ruth Hatsfelt, RA.

*****

The Ohio State University

2002

Master's Examination Committee: Approved by Professor Jeanine Thompson, Adviser '" ~ . ~1' • Vi I '.11 / /\ 1 c: '. Professor John Giffin " . '. ."~,, .,,··I..,,·t,..··l·\...:\..g V'•• ...; .... i-- .' •. (...'-.... Adviser \ Professor Sue Ott Rowlands Department ofTheatre ABSTRACT

This thesis is a documentation of my process in creating the role of Camille

Claudel in the Ohio State University Department of Theatre's production of Uncommon

Clay from November 7-11 and November 14-18, 2001. The production was devised and directed by Associate Professor, Jeanine Thompson of The Ohio State University

Department of Theatre and presented in Thurber Theatre located in the Drake

Performance and Event Center. The central challenge of my thesis project was to find a means by which to meld the diverse acting styles of Stanislavski, Viewpoints, Mime,

Suzuki, and the Lessac approach to the voice in order to achieve an effective, cohesive performance in a highly stylized movement theatre piece. I was portraying an historical person, Camille Claudel, in a physically-based play that was trying to capture the essence of her life experience. This project gave me the opportunity to bring the training that I have received in the past two years into the rehearsal and creation process on a new script.

ii I dedicate this to the memory ofmy beautiful sister, Michelle Janine Hatsfelt. Her

courage and determination inspired me to finish my education.

111 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to offer up special thanks to Ronald E. Baker for his loving support throughout this process. I could not have made it through without him.

I want to thank my mother for always being there for me, no matter what.

I also wish to express my gratitude to the members of my committee: Professor

Jeanine Thompson, Professor John Giffin and Professor Sue Ott Rowlands. Thank you for all the help and guidance.

Finally, none ofthis would have been possible without Dr. Susan Kelso. Thank you for giving me a chance and for believing in me.

IV VITA

December 4, 1962 Bom - Oakdale, Louisiana

1999 B.A. Theatre, McNeese State University.

1999 - present Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University Department ofTheatre

March - June 2001 Contract Teacher Columbus Children's Theatre

Summer 2000 Contract Teacher 4-H Workshop

Summer 2000 Contract Teacher Martin W. Essex School for the Gifted

1999 Student Workshop Presenter McNeese State University

1988 Teacher Margo Manning Studio, Dallas, Texas

1987-1988 Substitute Teacher Roarke's Film Actor's Lab, Dallas, Texas

1988 Co-teacher Letot Center, Dallas, Texas

v CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

1999 - 2002 Actor, The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Crone Camille, Uncommon Clay Aase, Peer Gynt with Columbus Symphony Orchestra Lady, Orpheus Descending Albert, The Singular Life OfAlbert Nobbs Older Welty/Sister, Mississippi Stories HannahlEthellDr. Henry/Bolshevik, Angels in America: Part II

1999 - 2002 Actor/CreatorlDirector The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio CreatorlDirector, A Slice ofTrifle, Additional scene for Susan Glaspell's Trifles ChoreographerlDirector, Freeloadin', Piece CreatorlPerformer, Jimmy's Room, Mime Piece CreatorlPerformer, The Key, Mime Piece CreatorlPerformer, Her Power, Suzuki Piece Co-CreatorlPerformer, Breaking Free, Viewpoints Piece Co-CreatorlPerformer, Because I'm Worth It, Laban Movement Duet Co-CreatorlPerformer, The Wrath ofMurg, Laban Movement Piece Performer/Creator, Decaf, Movement Piece

2001 Dialect Coach The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Alchemy OfDesire

2000 Director, The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Misreadings

VI 1999 Actor/Creator, McNeese State University Lake Charles, Louisiana Writer and Performer, The Destruction ofa Myth Writer, Composer, Choreographer, and Company Member, The Flow ofLife

1999 Director, McNeese State University Lake Charles, Louisiana Eleemosynary Throwing Your Voice AmericanSaint

1997 - 1999 Actor, McNeese State University Lake Charles, Louisiana Annie Oakley, Annie Get Your Gun Beatrice, Beatrice Charlotte, Flesh and Blood Singer/Gino, A Day in HollywoodJA Night in the Ukraine Poet, A Dream Play

1997 Actor, Equity Guest Artist McNeese State University Lake Charles, Louisiana Witch, Into the Woods

1996 Singer, C & G Productions Celebrity Cruises M. V. Century Production Shows and Solo Opening Act

1993 - 1994 Singer, C & G Productions Fantasy Cruises S. S. Britanis Production Shows and Solo Cabaret Show

1993 : Actor, Survivor Productions New York, New York Mrs. Bridgenorth, A Glorious Day (World Premier)

Vll 1992 Actor, Helloco Productions Theatre du Chatelet , Mrs. RoselUnderstudy Mrs. Molloy, Hello Dolly

1992 Actor, Casa Manana Theatre Fort Worth, Texas Jacqueline, La Cage Aux Folies

1991 Actor, Stage West Fort Worth, Texas Barbara, Romance/Romance

1991 Actor, Plaza Cabaret Dallas, Texas Angie Falcon, Mornin ' Dallas

1990 Actor, Theatre Three Dallas, Texas Company Member, Weill Women

1990 Actor, Addison Centre Theatre Dallas, Texas Company Member, Kurt Weill: A Musical Odyssey

1990 Actor, Arts District Theatre Dallas, Texas Singer, Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens

1989 Actor, Grand Kempinski Dallas, Texas Naomi Sera, New Year's Cole Porter Revue

V111 1989 Actor, Theatre Three Dallas, Texas Tintinabula, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

1989 Actor, Dallas Repertory Theatre Dallas, Texas Clara, I'm Not Rappaport

1989 Actor, Theatre Garage Dallas, Texas Charlotte, Prospect

1985 - 1986 Actor, Pegasus Theatre Dallas, Texas Irish O'Flannagan, Times Square Angel Betty Green, The Coarse Acting Show Gertrude, H'mlet Company Member, The Zero Hour

1988 Actor, Greenville Ave. Pocket Sandwich Theatre Dallas, Texas Inez Serrano, No Exit Diane, The Dues & Don'ts ofDating

PUBLICATIONS

Naomi Hatsfelt, Book Review "Eight Women ofthe American Stage: Talking About Acting." Theatre Studies 45 (2001): 89-91.

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Theatre

IX

I ~---- TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract...... Pag~ 11

Dedication iii

Acknowledgments iv

Vita v

Introduction 1

Chapters:

1. Research 6 1.1 Playwright and Production History 7 1.2 Character Analysis 11 1.3 Mental Illness 34 1.4 World ofthe Play 42 1.5 Summary 53

2. Production Circumstances 54

3. Methodology/Script 59 3.1 Methodology and Terminology 59 3.2 Key to Scoring Terms and Abbreviations 71 3.3 Scored Script. 73

4. Rehearsal and Performance Log 129 4.1 Pre-production Preparation 129 4.2 Early Rehearsals 139 4.3 Working Rehearsals 148 4.4 Technical Rehearsals 156 4.5 Performance Log 158 4.6 Rehearsal and Performance Schedule 159 4.7 Summary 160

x 5. Evaluation and Conclusion 161

Bibliography 166

APPENDIX A: Interview with Camille ClaudeI1888 171 APPENDIX B: Important dates in France 175 APPENDIX C: Director's Concept 177 APPENDIX D: Program from Spring Showing 185 APPENDIX E: Program from Performance 190 APPENDIX F: Review from The Columbus Dispatch 199 APPENDIX G: Review from The Lantern 201 APPENDIX H: Review from German Village Gazette 203 APPENDIX I: Photographs ofthe production 205

Xl INTRODUCTION

This thesis is a documentation ofmy performance and research process for the role ofCamille Claudel in Jeanine Thompson's original movement theatre piece,

Uncommon Clay. The production was devised and directed by Associate Professor

Jeanine Thompson ofThe Ohio State University Department ofTheatre and presented in

Thurber Theatre located in the Drake Performance and Event Center, November 7-11 and

November 14-18, 2001.

Although this was not the largest role that I performed in my time with The Ohio

State University's Department ofTheatre, it was in many ways the most challenging and unique. The path that led me to this challenging work is somewhat interesting in itself.

Acting Background

I began acting when I was fourteen years old. Prior to that I had always sung.

My first role was in a production ofDamn Yankees with the Artists' Civic Theatre and

Studio in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1976. It changed my life. After that, I continued performing mostly in musical plays throughout high school as well as singing in the choir. In the middle ofmy senior year ofhigh school, I auditioned for Six Flags Over

Texas, and was hired to sing in the production show at the Southern Palace Theatre at Six

Flags. This began the development ofmy professional work ethic, as the management

1 was very demanding ofthe performers. Since I was only seventeen years old, and living away from my parents for the first time, I was forced to grow up very quickly.

When my contract ended, I started the Stanislavski-based Bachelor ofFine Arts in

Acting program at the University ofOklahoma. However, in my second year I decided to quit the program. I took a break that lasted about thirteen years, during which time I took part in many shows, mostly in Dallas, Texas, and earned my Actor's Equity Association membership.

Perhaps the most significant show that I performed in while I was in Dallas was

La Cage Aux FolIes because it was during this show that I met Lee Roy Reams. I knew that when the show closed he planned to direct a production ofHello Dolly in Paris,

France. On closing night I told him how much I would love to work with him again. He invited me to fly to New York to audition for his show, with no guarantees, of course. I had to be there in two days. I did fly to New York, and was cast in the show. I spent three wonderful months in Paris performing at the Theatre du Chatelet.

It was during my stay in Paris that I first heard ofCamille Claudel. I had visited all the major museums, and decided to see the . I remember specifically being drawn to the work ofCamille Claudel. When I saw the onyx and bronze of The Gossips and The Wave, I remember having a physical reaction, felt in the pit of my stomach. These works, as well as Deep Thought, touched me with their beauty and the vulnerability that they portrayed. I felt an instant connection with them. However, it would be many years before I was to hear ofCamille Claudel again.

Upon my return to the United States I moved to New York City. I lived there for only eight months and went to auditions almost daily. I was cast only twice while I was

2 in New York. The first was in a showcase production ofa new musical based on the

George Bernard Shaw play, Getting Married. The other was as a production singer on a cruise ship. It was after my one-year stint on the S. S. Britanis that I was called home to

Louisiana due to an illness in my family. I stayed in Louisiana for about four years.

There is no professional theatre in Lake Charles, and indeed, only one Equity theatre in the state ofLouisiana, and that is in Baton Rouge. It was after performing under a guest artist contract with the local university that I decided it was time to finish my bachelor's degree and get a master's degree. While attending McNeese State University under the tutelage ofDr. Susan Kelso, I discovered a love for the development ofnew works and experimental theatre. I was able to collaborate in the creation of several projects that were movement-based and unlike anything I had ever done before.

I finished my Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts at McNeese State

University in 1999 and was accepted into the Master ofFine Arts program at The Ohio

State University. I chose Ohio State specifically because ofits strong movement component. I felt that movement was my weakest skill. Therefore, I looked for a program that could compensate for this weakness. I was also interested in a program that devoted attention to the production ofnew works. It is here that I have spent the last three years pursuing my interest in movement theatre and honing my skills in acting and voice. My role in Uncommon Clay provided me with an excellent opportunity to synthesize my acquired skills in movement, voice, acting, research, and script analysis. It was, therefore, an important milestone in my academic and performance career.

3 Thesis Project

The central challenge of my thesis project was to find a means by which to meld diverse acting styles in order to achieve an effective, cohesive performance in a movement theatre piece. I began in the method with which I was most familiar,

Stanislavski's system. According to the rules of this system, the actor begins with script analysis and character research. In this case, there was no script to analyze. Therefore, I delved into the life and times of Camille Claudel in order to find an emotional understanding ofthe character. This approach ultimately contributed to my performance but was not in itself sufficient to the demands ofthis role.

Another technique I brought to my preparation was Viewpoints improvisation that the director used in the earliest stages ofrehearsal. It was in these improvisations that I was able to explore the character more fully. Furthermore, this approach allowed the ensemble to discover relationships among the characters.

Mime and Suzuki training were used throughout the rehearsal process as well, particularly in the early rehearsals. These techniques helped me to define the style physically. Mime also provided a daily workout that kept my body conditioned.

Since the script was one ofthe final components added to the show, it was only natural that the last layer for me was the Lessac approach to the voice. I found that several of Lessac's principles were key to my success in the role.

In this thesis I attempt to define the function that each of these techniques fulfilled and the manner by which I connected them to create a unified performance. This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter One focuses on my research for the role. Production circumstances are covered in Chapter Two. In Chapter Three I explain my acting

4 methodology and terminology and provide my scored script. Chapter Four gives an account ofthe production process in journal form. Chapter Five contains my summary and evaluation ofthe project. Promotional material for Uncommon Clay, reviews, and other pertinent information not found elsewhere, are included as Appendices.

Performing and researching the role ofCamille Claudel in Uncommon Clay provided me myriad opportunities for growth and reflection on the methods I have learned throughout my graduate program. In particular, I was able to work in a collaborative process in the creation ofa new work in movement theatre. This is the type of project I hope to pursue in my future work in theatre.

5 CHAPTER 1

RESEARCH

This chapter contains my research on the role of Camille Claudel in Uncommon

Clay, and is divided into five sections. Considering Camille Claudel was an historical person whose life was shrouded in mystery and controversy, my first step was to find biographical information. Since the script was not fully devised before rehearsals began, most ofmy research was based on the biographical information available. I was also sharing the role with five other women. I was to portray only a certain period of

Camille's life. That was the period after she broke with and was subsequently incarcerated in an asylum, until just before her death. She was diagnosed as suffering from a persecution complex. It was important, therefore, for me to research how a persecution complex, what we now call paranoia, would manifest itself Also, of importance to me was the period in which Camille lived in France. It was important to discern what life would have been like for an unmanied female sculptor during that time period. What could have driven her to the state that was perceived by her family and doctors as a mental illness? Additionally, I needed to know what conditions would have been in the asylums where she spent the last thirty years of her life.

6 The bulk of my research was comprised of reading biographies on Camille

Claudel and Auguste Rodin, with some time spent on . I read about the art

scene in Paris from 1883-1913, as well as the political and social climate. Much time

was spent reading case histories of mental patients during the time period in which

Camille was incarcerated. I also studied books about mental illness, particularly those

detailing case histories. In addition, I listened to the composers who were mentioned in

Camille's biographies, as well as others ofthe time period, and watched films that were

either set around the tum-of-the-century or were somehow related to art or artists.

In the first section ofthis chapter, I cover the playwright and production history.

The second section is a biography and character analysis ofCamille Claudel. In section three, I provide information on mental illness, including paranoia and depression.

Section four is a discussion ofthe world ofthe play, which includes life in an insane

asylum during the early twentieth century. It is followed by a brief summary.

1.1 Playwright and Production History

Associate Professor Jeanine Thompson has a background in , mime

and acting. She studied acting and dance at the University ofUtah from 1976 to 1980,

and has been choreographing modern dance pieces since that time. She was a company

member ofthe New Shakespeare Players, now called Theater Works West, in Salt Lake

City from 1978 to 1984 where she performed principal roles in productions ranging from

A Midsummer Night's Dream to Sexual Perversity in Chicago.

After seeing a performance by Marcel Marceau in 1982, Thompson realized "that

the art ofmime was the crystallization ofthe form and content ofwhat I was trying to

7 express through my combinations and manipulations of the techniques of dance and acting" (Thompson 4). She began to study with Mr. Marceau in 1985 and has maintained a close professional relationship with him since then. Through this association, Mr.

Marceau's work has been made available to future students by way ofmotion capture, video archives, and a recent documentary all housed at the Lawrence and Lee Theatre

Research Institute of the Ohio State University. Thompson, an Associate Professor in the

Department of Theatre, has been at Ohio State since 1994. In addition to her continuing work with Mr. Marceau, she has participated in several classes with Anne Bogart and

SITI among others.

Thompson is also listed on the Greater Columbus Arts Council: Artists-in-Schools program and the Ohio Arts Council:Touring Fee-Support Artist and Artists-in-Education programs since 1987. As part ofthese programs she tours to Ohio secondary schools for performance and residency activities. In her residency programs, she tailors the work to the group and offers workshops in modem dance, mime, acting, and creating new works.

Her most recent residency was at the Fort Hayes High School for Performance and Visual

Arts in Columbus where she performed and taught for five weeks culminating in the creation by the students ofa new work entitled Voices ofthe Homeless.

Thompson has created several new works ofher own. Most ofher creations live in the world ofmime and modem dance. However, in 1999 with the help ofa collaborative team including Sue Ott Rowlands, of Acting and Directing in The

Ohio State University Theatre Department, she developed and performed her first piece to include text. Written by Thompson herself, the piece was titled Breaking the Current:

Ms. Toad's Wild Ride Through the Twists and Turns of a Psychedelic Journey Called

8 Life. When I visited The Ohio State University in 1999 to look at the department, I was able to see a rehearsal ofthis show. It was this rehearsal that influenced my decision to attend Ohio State. I was absolutely amazed and touched by the piece. It was a form of theatre that I had never seen, and I was very drawn to it. It mixed text, mime and dance.

All these incredible images and emotions were present in the piece. It had a life ofits own, which is the way I believe theatre should be. In an article in On Campus Online,

Thompson described the piece:

"I have brought that to the forefront ofthis piece --feeling silenced. There's a repetitive gesture," she stops and demonstrates, quickly pulling her hand up to her lips and pushing it down again, "of going to speak but not." She hopes Sarah's story will touch a common nerve in audiences. "It's a story, a life journey, ofthe good times and hard times we all face and how we survive trials we sometimes stumble on. It's about coming to terms of acceptance and serenity. I think that's part of survival. Where do you find the buoyancy to go on?" (Whittsock)

Uncommon Clay was Thompson's thesis creation in partial fulfillment of her

Masters ofFine Arts in Dance Choreography in 1993; and it is also about survival. I asked Thompson about the story she is telling in this new form. She said, "I'm telling the story of Camille, a woman, an artist who had a great deal to say as a woman and through her art and who was silenced and I see that as universal" (Interview with Thompson).

She also stated that the fact that Camille's work prevails throughout time was ofgreat interest to her.

In its initial conception, Uncommon Clay contained no text. It was a much more abstract piece than the 2001 production. The cast were shown a videotape ofthe previous performance to get a sense ofthe style, but very little ofthe original movement remained.

According to a review in the Ohio State Lantern, the campus newspaper, on February 15,

1993, "Thompson's Uncommon Clay is a visually captivating piece ... The piece

9 successfully utilized techniques ofdance, acting, mime, and music and set to create a completed and realistic view ofthe artist's life. The entire performance re-created the mood and period ofClaudel's life, as well as exploring and portraying her emotions"

(Shipengrover). In a letter to Thompson regarding the piece, Dianne McIntyre wrote, "I hope you carry on with this type of work. This piece is not only a great success, but your unique form is a great success" (qtd. in Thompson 64). Thompson's thesis committee member, Vickie Blaine wrote, "You captured the spirit ofthe same woman through the ritual with the scarf. It was wonderful" (qtd. in Thompson 54). One of the critical comments that came from John Giffin, the chairperson ofThompson's thesis committee, was: "Having the primary focus on the ensemble clouded the intent ofthe story of

Camille Claudel. What do you want to say about Camille? It got lost in the ensemble.

You could enhance the personal focus on specifics. For instance you could have more of an age differentiation from one Camille to another" (qtd. in Thompson 52).

I believe in the 2001 production, Thompson attempted to make that differentiation. She brought Camille's story more to the forefront, and the use oftext was a great aid in that task. The story was the same. Camille was a great female artist who

.was ahead of her time, and was, therefore, silenced; yet, she survived. Her work survives, and Jeanine Thompson will make sure that at least this version ofher story will be heard. She will not be silenced anymore, nor will Thompson.

10 1.2 Character Analysis

Camille Claudel has been described in many ways. Each description gives an insight into her character. In this section I will give a brief biography and how it affects the performance ofthe role on stage. I start with some quotes about her.

In the catalogue for her 1951 exhibit her brother, Paul wrote: "I see her once again as she was, a superb young woman, triumphant in her beauty and genius ... a noble brow surmounting magnificent eyes ofthe deep blue which is so seldom found outside of novels ... her vivid air ofcourage, candor, superiority and gaiety" (Caranfa 21).

In 1894, 1. de Goncourt stated: "Camille impressed those who met her with her hoarse voice, her countrified speech, her awkward gestures and her childish ways" (Paris 169).

Mathias Morhardt, her friend and an art dealer said ofCamille in Rodin's studio:

"Everyone who frequented the studio on rue de l'Universite remembers her. Silently and diligently, she remained seated on the small chair [and sculpted the clay]" (Caranfa 22).

Paris quotes Morhdhardt as saying, "The silent and diligent young woman, who far from being idle, molds and sculpts the clay" (paris 8). Camille Mauclair writes in his article on the "Art ofWomen Painters and Sculptors" (la Revue des Revues, 1901):

Mademoiselle Claudel is a solitary young woman with a simple and fine face lit by two eyes ofclear blue, where the governing principle ofcontemplation is reflected and which she carries within herselfand on herselfthe whole announcement ofthe world ofpassionate and ofcontemplative creatures that she evokes. (Caranfa 41)

In Renee Paris' biography ofCamille she wrote:

Together, they could be seen at the Goncourts', the Daudets' and with , and Camille did not pass unobserved: Tonight, at the Daudets', the little Claudel, Rodin's pupil, wearing a canezou embroidered with large Japanese flowers, with her childish face, her beautiful eyes, her witty sayings in that heavy country accent. (Paris II)

11 Eisenwerth writes in his book on Claudel and Rodin: "Apart from her figure, her deep- blue eyes and chestnut hair were particularly striking, although the overall effect was marginally impaired by her weak chin, apparent in profile, and slight limp, the result ofa congenital hip defect. n (Eisenwerth 14) "The physical defect that the critic Robert Godet regarded as one ofthe shaping forces ofher personality - a slight limp caused by a dislocation ofthe hip; a small imperfection that made her all the more determined to achieve perfection in her art" (Grunfeld 213).

Camille Rosalie Claudel was born December 8, 1864 in Villeneuve-sur-Fere.

Fere is a small village in the Tardenois province and the Champagne district of France.

Reine-Marie Paris describes the area as "the windswept rainy foothills ofthe Champagne district''(Paris 2). Fere is located approximately 100 kilometers east ofParis. Camille's parents, Louis-Prosper Claudel and Louise-Athanaise Cerveaux. were married in 1862.

Mrs. Claudel had a child, Charles-Henri, in 1863 who died in infancy. Camille's mother may not have recovered fully from the death ofher first child, and perhaps held that against Camille for the rest ofher life. Camille's sister, Louise Jeanne, was born in 1866, and her brother, Paul, was born in 1868. Accounts show that Paul and Camille had a close relationship, and that Louise was Mrs. Claudel's favorite. Camille seemed to be her father's favorite child, although her mother did not seem to like her at all. Louis-Prosper

Claude! worked as the Registrar ofMortgages in Fere, and Louise was the daughter ofa doctor. The family home was a part ofMrs. Claudel's dowry.

The bond that connected [Louis-Prosper and Louise Claudel] was, in Cassar's opinion, "the same sense of duty, the same atavistic respect for money, the same horror of prodigality," Louise also possessed simplicity and humility of heart.

12 Very seldom, ifever, did she show emotion to her children. These qualities, concludes Cassar, prevented her "from ever understanding either ofthe two geniuses that she gave birth to." (Caranfa 30)

Paul Claudel compared the ambiance ofVilleneuve to that ofWuthering Heights.

Apparently the house raged and "everyone always fought in the family" (paris 3). So it is possible to say that Camille probably did not have a happy childhood. She and Paul would spend hours walking in the moors surrounding their home. There were beautiful hills with sand and strangely shaped sandstone rocks. There was one particularly large rock they called "The Geyn," which translates approximately to "the giant." Camille loved being close to nature, and it provided an escape from the tension ofhome. It was probably The Geyn that gave Camille her first inspiration as a sculptor. Uncommon Clay begins with Camille when she is approximately seven years old. She is sculpting in the mud at The Geyn. I think this was probably one ofthe happiest times ofCamille's childhood.

In 1869, Mr. Claudel's department transferred him to Bar-le-Duc. Paris states that

Latin, spelling and mathematics comprised Paul's and probably Camille's formal education. Camille wastaught first by the Sisters ofChristian Doctrine in Bar-le-Duc.

Mr. Claudel was transferred again in 1876 to Nogent-sur-Seine. After moving to Nogent­ sur-Seine, the children's education was taken up by a tutor, Mr. Colin. However, most of

Camille's knowledge is attributed to her father's extensive library.

Although the Claudels were Catholic, as was most ofthe population ofFrance at that time, the family was not particularly religious. Historians write that at the beginning ofthe nineteenth century the middle class as a whole seemed to have a somewhat detached attitude toward religion. Camille did receive First Communion, but discovered

13 at an early age the writings ofEmest Renan, and became an agnostic. Mr. Claudel seemed to have an indifferent attitude toward religion, which would not have been out of the ordinary for that time period. "During the 1830s, as Rene Remond observed, a pious woman might be respectable, but it was still ridiculous for a man to be devout"

(Alexander 83). However, Mr. Claudel was thought to be a Freemason. The Freemasons is one ofthe oldest fraternal organizations in the world. It is not a religion, but does not allow atheists into its organization. Mrs. Claudel had no religious sentiment. "She found neither consolation nor reward in religion" (Caranfa 30). It was only after Paul's conversion at Notre-Dame in 1886 that Mrs. Claudel seemed to become more concerned with religious matters. It must be noted, however, that although the Claudels were not necessarily religious, they were members ofthe bourgeois, and it was extremely important to maintain appearances.

Camille had begun to sculpt early in her life without any formal training. "She leamed to carve marble and then taught one ofthe maids, Eugenie, how to TOugh out marble blocks like any metteur au point. Before long she had produced heads of

Napoleon and Bismarck, a David et Goliath and a score ofgroups and figurines inspired by literary sources such as the poems ofOssian" (Grunfeld 212). These works do not survive as far as we know. It was when the Claudels lived in Nogent-sur-Seine, that

Alfred Boucher saw Camille's work. Alfred Boucher was a successful sculptor from

Nogent-sur-Seine, who had studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Camille's father asked him to assess her work around 1879.

14 Boucher encouraged her father to let her pursue her interest in on a serious basis and strengthened her resolve by praising her work and giving her a certain amount of practical help. At this point, women were still barred from studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, but there were several private art schools in Paris that admitted female students. (Eisenwerth 18)

Boucher recommended that she enroll in the Academie Colarossi in Paris.

It was around this same time, 1879, that Louis-Prosper was again transferred, this time to Wassy-sur-Blaise. It was not until 1881, however, that Camille's father sent Mrs.

Claudel and the children to live in Paris. According to Paul, the move was all due to

Camille's wishes to become an artist.

He describes the event in his Memoires improvises thus: "I went to a little school in Wassy - where we were six or seven [pupils] - of which I have a happy memory. And then the cataclysm in the family occurred. My sister, thinking she had the vocation ofa great artist (which was unfortunately true) and having discovered clay, had started to make little which Alfred Boucher happened to admire, so, my sister, who was terribly determined, managed to drag the whole family to Paris - she, who wanted to sculpt, I, who, it appears, had the vocation as a writer, my other sister as a musician ... Finally and in short, the family was separated in two: my father stayed in Wassy while we went to Paris, to Boulevard Montpamasse, where we settled." (qtd. in Paris 6)

Then in 1883, Louis-Prosper was transferred to Rambouillet. He spent the next several years commuting between the towns frequently.

So, it was in 1881 at the age ofsixteen that Camille began attending the Academie

Colarossi. She also rented a studio at 117 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs with three

English women who were fellow students at Colarossi. "Camille, 'naturally, was the guiding spirit ofthe group,' as Mathias Morhardt writes. 'She chose the models, she indicated the pose, she assigned the tasks, she decided the seating arrangements'"

(Grunfeld 213). Alfred Boucher visited them once a week to give them instruction. Art historians have noted the influence ofBoucher, one of the last ofthe Florentine School,

15 in Camille's works. "Like the Florentines, Camille Claudel hates heaviness and strong opposition of light and shade; her use ofthe contrast between light and shadow is subtle, purposeful, and intelligent, so that the work appears light, and hence the breath oflife that animates her work, that relieves it from a certain heaviness" (Caranfa 75).

In 1883, however, Boucher won the Prix de Rome scholarship at the French

Academy and moved to Rome. He asked his friend, Auguste Rodin, to look in on his pupils each week for him. Before leaving for Italy, Alfred Boucher expressed fears about

Camille's future. "He summed up his fears by saying: 'Afraid of her darkening blue-black eyes, afraid ofher social ineptitude. Afraid ofher difficult family, who did not understand her. Afraid ofthat absent father ... What would become of her? And how would Auguste deal with such a violent and independent young girl" (Caranfa 36). Rodin did begin visiting the girls each week after Boucher left Paris. "Years later Paul remembered seeing 'Rodin, with a few blows of his modeling tool, remake his pupils' maquettes [rough models or sketches] from top to bottom'" (Grunfeld 213). According to

Paris, it was shortly after meeting Camille that Rodin hired her and her English friend,

Jessie Lipscomb, to work as assistants in his studio at 182 rue de l'Universite. However,

Eisenwerth sets the date when they began to work for Rodin as 1885.

Morhardt, who knew her more intimately than any ofthe other reliable witnesses, writes that Camille became Rodin's eleve [pupil] and disciple "without a moment's hesitation" or regret for the hard-won originality ofher work ... "She knocked on Rodin's studio door because she was an artist, and because he is the only sculptor who genuinely cares about art." By putting herself in his hands she "submitted to a will that was not her own, but parallel to her own. It was not an abdication but the very opposite, a step in the right direction on the road to art." (Grunfeld 213-214)

16 In 1880, Auguste Rodin received a commission from the French government to build the doors for the planned Musee des Arts Decoratifs. The door was to be a relief pattern executed in bronze. Rodin was allowed to choose the theme, which was influenced by 's Last Judgement and Dante's , and later

Baudelaire's Les Heurs de mal. The doors were "Rodin's conception of hell, which amounts, quite simply, to a vision oflife, with its eternal conflict between the promptings ofdesire and the wish to escape the suffering entailed by yielding to temptation"

(Eisenwerth 21). It was for the creation ofthese doors that Rodin needed to hire so many assistants. The doors eventually became The Gates ofHell, and were not finished until

1917, the year of his death. He worked on them for about 37 years. Camille was very involved with the construction ofThe Gates ofHell. "She posed and composed. She lent her body to more than one damned soul and many ofthe figures may have been made by her. In any case, [Mathias] Morhardt claims that Rodin allowed Camille to the hands and feet ofseveral ofhis larger compositions" (Paris 9). Rodin created his first portrait of Camille in 1884. His second work to use her face was L'Aurore [Dawn].

In the sculpture, Camille's face is emerging from the rock, and it is left unfinished around her.

In any event, "she began as his pupil, then became his assistant, modeleur, mistress and confidante; his 'sagacious and clairvoyant collaborator; and finally, it is said, the mother oftwo ofhis children" (Grunfeld 214). The issue ofCamille's motherhood is much debated. Paris states that no evidence is available to support the rumors of children. She asserts that "Jacques Madaule inferred from Romain Rolland's correspondence that abortion had occurred" (Paris 13). "In 1976 Jacques Cassar

17 corresponded with Romain Rolland's widow, who wrote that Paul Claudel had once discussed his sister with her. He told her that Camille had been pregnant by Rodin and had an abortion" (Butler 538). However, Butler and Cassar are in agreement with Paris and do not take this as corroborating evidence. Caranfa states that both Grunfeld and

Delbee mention the possibility oftwo children, but neither have hard evidence.

Grunfeld writes:

It is ['s] testimony which establishes the long-suppressed fact that "Camille gave birth to two illegitimate children ofwhich Rodin was the father." ­ ... Apparently Rodin paid their boarding school fees, but he did not want to acknowledge these two sons any more than he had legally recognized Auguste Beuret ... Rodin thought that paternity was for other people. He and Camille both had more important things to do than rear children. Long afterward Judith Cladel questioned him on this point, and the record ofher conversation in her notebooks is not quite as respectful as the version she chose to publish. Cladel: "But everyone says you had four children by your mistress [amie]." Rodin (evasively): "These are just stories. In that case my duty would have been clear." (218-219)

Another interesting note with regard to children comes from an "interview" found in the diary ofone ofCamille's English friends, Florence M. Jeans. We do not know for certain how the two knew one another, but it is believed that Jessie Lipscomb introduced them.

The interview was conducted in May 1888~ I have attached a full copy as an Appendix A.

One question asked Camille what was her idea of misery? Camille's answer was, "D'etre mere de nombreux enfants 'To be mother to numerous children'" (RiviereI96-197).

It is also worth noting that in 1888 when Rodin and Camille were working on their respective "lover" sculptures, Rodin's was simply called The Kiss, but Camille's showed a much more sincere and intimate pose, and was named Shakuntala. Shakuntala is the story of a woman abandoned by the man she loves. After she has borne his child, she seeks him out but he does not remember her. Camille chose to depict the moment,

18 after the spell that made him forget her is lifted, when he comes to her begging her forgiveness. Shakuntala lovingly says that there is nothing to forgive. You can see through the pose, her left arm dangling over his shoulder, that she has given herselfto him completely. Camille had to have known the complete story, and I am sure that she realized the parallel with her own life. The other matter, which may be purely coincidental, is the fact that she sculpted several children, and seemed to have a special gift for capturing the essence ofa child.

Notwithstanding the lack ofbiographical information on the matter, Uncommon

Clay does include the children in Scene lla. This scene represents Camille and Rodin as busy sculptors being interrupted by their children. The children run in and play in the studio while Camille and Rodin are working. Camille enjoys having the children there, but Rodin orders them out ofthe studio. Eventually, they leave and Camille follows them. Then Camille reappears at the top ofthe ramp, opening her robe to reveal the children. The children are tethered to her with gold ribbons that run from Camille's waist to their backs. Camille says, "These are your children, whether you like it or not" (20).

At that point, Rodin takes an oversize pair of scissors from Rose and cuts the ribbons, detaching the children from Camille. He leaves Camille sobbing on the stage.

In order to reconcile the biographical information with what Uncommon Clay presented on stage we have to assume that Camille did have three children by Rodin.

Even though Camille was very involved with her work, she loved her children. She was tom between her work and her love for them. The loss ofthe children was something for which she never truly forgave Rodin. It was one more way that he controlled her life.

19 Camille did not live with her family after 1888. Rodin rented a studio called La

Folie Neuborg in 1888 on boulevard d'ltalie. He and Camille worked there together in the beautifully dilapidated old mansion. She and Rodin traveled several times together, and Camille took several trips alone to Touraine. Some writers have even suggested that when she visited Jessie Lipscomb on the Isle ofWight offthe coast ofEngland in 1888, she had either a child or an abortion. She traveled with Rodin to Touraine in 1887 and to

Touraine and Anjou as well as the Chateau de l'Islette in 1890. Caranfa also writes ofher visiting the Renoirs with Rodin in Cannes, but does not give a date. She traveled alone to

Touraine in 1893 and 1894. She had numerous opportunities to go away and have a child without anyone knowing.

There is evidence that Rodin was completely enamored of Camille from the beginning. Rodin wrote a letter to her either at the end of 1884 or the beginning of 1885 that gives a fairly clear picture of his feelings. "My very dearest down on both knees before your beautiful body which I embrace" (Vilain 55). In 1886, when Camille and

Paul went to visit Jessie on the Isle ofWight, Rodin followed them hoping to see

Camille. There are extant letters from Rodin to Jessie asking her to intervene for him and convince Camille to see him. Eventually, Jessie's parents invited Rodin to visit the family home. "Reunited under the same roof, the couple saw each other continually, but

Camille remained aloof and irritable. She ruthlessly inflicted her moods on the company.

On one occasion, for example, she rudely broke up a musical evening at which Jessie was singing Scottish ballads" (Eisenwerth 24-25). Camille did write to Rodin before she left

England. This is one ofthe few extant letters that we have from Camille to Rodin.

20 Camille wrote:

Dear friend, I am very sorry to learn that you are still unwell. I'm sure that you have once again eaten too much food at one of your accursed dinners with that accursed circle ofpeople I detest, who steal your time and health and give you nothing in return. But I won't say anything, since I know that I'm powerless to preserve you from the evil I see. How can you work on the maquette of your figure without a model? Tell me; I'm very worried about it. You reproach me for not writing sufficiently long letters, but you send me only a few banal and indifferent lines that don't amuse me. You're right in thinking that I'm not very vivacious here; I feel that I'm far away from you! And that I'm a total stranger to you! Here there is always something that annoys me. I'll tell you about everything I've done when I see you. Next Thursday I'm going to stay with Miss Fawcett; I'll write you the day of my departure from England. From now until then please work, and save all the fun for me. A fond embrace, Camille. (qtd. in Grunfeld 217)

The letter does not sound like a woman in love, and yet she says that she feels very far away from him. It seems like an affectionate letter, if not entirely passionate.

Perhaps the lack of passion is related to the fact that Rodin lived with Rose Beuret and would not leave her for Camille. A recently discovered document lends a better insight into Camille's expectations from the relationship. The document was written by Rodin, but probably dictated by Camille. What follows is the complete document:

In the future and beginning today, 12 October 1886, I will have no student other than Mlle. Camille Claudel, and she alone will I protect with all the means I have at my disposition and with the help of my friends, who will also be her friends, especially my influential friends. I will no longer accept other students, so that there will be no chance ofrival talents being created, although I do not suppose that one will often meet an artist so naturally endowed. At exhibitions I shall do everything possible for placement and journals. Under no pretext will I go to the home ofMadame ..., to whom I shall no longer teach sculpture. After the exhibition in the month ofMay, we will leave for Italy and we will stay there for 6 months, living communally in an indissoluble liaison, after which Mademoiselle Camille will be my wife. I will be very happy to offer a figurine in marble to Mademoiselle Camille if she would like to accept it in 4 or 5 months.

21 From now until the month ofMay I will have no other woman, and if! do, all the conditions are dissolved. If my commission for Chile works out, we will go there instead ofItaly. I will take none ofmy feminine models whom I have known. I will order a photograph from Carjat ofMademoiselle Claudel in the clothes she wore to the Academy [when she was] dressed for town, and perhaps one in an evening dress. Mademoiselle Camille will stay in Paris until May. Mademoiselle Camille commits herselfto receive me in her atelier 4 times a month until the month ofMay. (qtd. in Butler 198)

To me the letters sounds as if it was written immediately after Camille's return from the

Isle ofWight. Perhaps they had a fight before Camille left regarding the boundaries and future oftheir relationship. It may have also been related to "Madame ..." who is mentioned early in the letter. The document appears to be some sort of attempt at reconciliation. This was as close as Camille ever came to marrying Rodin. Most of

Rodin's other promises were never realized either. She did have the photograph taken in her best dress, but they did not spend six months in Italy or Chile together. Eisenwerth states that:

With her exceptionally mercurial temperament, Camille was continually tom between the very strong affection she felt for Rodin and her defiant urge to avoid being swallowed up by a relationship that stirred up deep-seated inner fears. This, together with her awareness of the problems faced by others in similar situations, continually led her to hesitate and draw back. (36)

Rodin made his third portrait ofCamille in 1886. It is entitled The Thought.

Again, he used the unfinished look. Camille's head, wearing a Breton cap, is emerging from the top ofthe marble. From her chin down, she is completely encapsulated in the stone.

It must be assumed that [Rodin] had been thinking for some time about creating a work that would symbolically encapsulate Camille's occasional fits ofmelancholy and her continual fruitless brooding over her vocation, her creativity, her relationship to her teacher - over life in general and the transience of mortal things . .. The portrait ofRodin's beloved pupil and muse, the headstrong, wayward young woman who alternately accepted and rejected his advances, prophetically

22 anticipates the fate that was to befall her: the disintegration of her personality and the schizoid dissociation of thought and feeling that locked her in a prison whose walls were as solid as the marble that was her preferred material for sculpture. (Eisenwerth 40-41)

By 1887, Camille and Rodin were again at odds with one another. When Jessie

Lipscomb visited Paris in March of 1887 Rodin refused to see her. She wrote him a note stating that she had nothing to do with the problems between him and Camille, and that she had come to see him. He did eventually meet with her. By the end of 1887, Rodin and Camille had obviously reconciled again. They were seen out together quite frequently. Camille moved out of her parents' apartment in 1888 to 113 boulevard d'ltahe. "Rodin began paying the six-hundred-franc annual rent at number 113

[boulevard d'ltalie] on January 1, 1888" (Butler 228). This apartment was very near

Rodin's studio at La Folie Neubourg. It is unclear as to which space was rented first, but we do know that Rodin paid the rent for both. Camille was very proud of her work and displayed a bit of arrogance.

She liked to give bravura displays ofher unmatched skill as a stone carver, for unlike Rodin and virtually every other sculptor in Paris she enjoyed carving even more than modeling. "Excuse the dust on my smock," she would say to visitors to her studio, brandishing her file. "It's I myself who carve the marble: I cannot bear entrusting a work to the zeal of a praticien 'practitioner. '" (Grunfeld 223)

Butler writes that "the high point ofthe affair between this dynamic and talented woman and the world's most celebrated sculptor occurred in 1892, in the dilapidated eighteenth-century studio [La Folie Neubourg]" (271). In the early 1890s Rodin did introduce Camille to his very important friends and did all that he could to advance her career. He tried to help her get commissions and have her works reviewed. Their affair

23 was quite public at this point. However, there were accounts that when they worked together they fought until "the fur flew."

Mathias Morhardt described how Camille sought to coerce the master into repudiating "his poor old Rose, who had been the companion of his early years, and who had shared his poverty. He could not bring himself to do that, though both as a man and an artist he was passionately in love with Camille Claudel." "She has no sense of fair play," Rodin once remarked, "just like all women." (Eisenwerth 60)

Paris argues that by 1892, Camille and Rodin's relationship was deteriorating. She names several possible reasons.

Probably Camille was resentful and she felt used by the opportunistic Rodin. Her maternal instincts had been cruelly thwarted, and Rose Beuret, who felt her own position menaced, was becoming more and more aggressive toward Camille. More germane, perhaps, was the conflict between two exceptional artists whose very different and yet very strong temperaments were bound to collide hurtfully in time. In view ofthis it is in fact astonishing that the liaison between Camille and Rodin managed to survive for as long as it did - fifteen years. (Paris 14)

In 1893, Paul became the vice consul ofthe French consulate in New York. It was his first abandonment of his sister. Around the same time, Camille separated her life from Rodin's by living and working at 113 boulevard d'Italie. She did not completely break from him, but began to distance herself It was also during this time that Rodin was working on his fifth and sixth portraits ofher titled, The Convalescent and The

Farewell.

Although they are quite distinct from one another, both sculptures show an imploring, weeping Camille clapping her hands over her mouth - hence the alternative title Silence. Despite the implicitly optimistic title of the first version, which suggests that the figure has been ill but is now on the road to recovery, the dominant impression is one ofpathological melancholy and . (Eisenwerth 60-63)

The despair depicted in these sculptures could be related to Paul leaving her, or Camille's sadness could have been derived from the distancing between her and Rodin, or maybe

24 even the loss of her children. Perhaps Rodin had transferred his own sadness about the deterioration oftheir relationship onto the features ofhis beloved. Probably it was a combination ofall these, as well as Camille's natural propensity to melancholy.

It was supposedly around 1892 that Camille drew the shocking cartoons ofRodin and Rose, although they are not dated, so we have no way of knowing for certain.

Le systeme cellulaire shows Rodin sitting in a prison cell - chained hand and foot, and evidently on a bread-and-water regime - while Rose Beuret, armed with a long-handle broom, patrols up and down outside like a vigilant warder. In the second drawing, Rodin and Rose are portrayed as a pair of lovers lying together in bed. Rose's breasts are shrunken and withered, she has an ugly profile with a bulbous nose, and her index finger is raised, admonishing Rodin to fulfill his amorous duty. With the third drawing, titled Le Collage, Camille's imagination reaches a peak ofdistortion, fueled by her feelings ofdespair ... Here, Rodin and his mistress are literally stuck together, joined at the rear like a pair ofcopulating dogs surprised in flagrante. Rose is squatting on all fours, with her head and breasts hanging down toward the ground, while Rodin is trying to pull himself free by clinging to a tree trunk, but it is obvious that his efforts are in vain. He and his partner are doomed to remain united. . . the caption reads "Le Collage ­ Ah! Ben vrai! Ce que ca tient!" 'The collage - Oh yes, it really does stick!'. (Eisenwerth 81)

"Le Collage" or "The Gluing" was a play on the phrase used by the French to refer to unmarried people living together. These cartoons clearly show the hostility that Camille felt for Rose. Rodin is portrayed as weak and ineffectual, but Camille's anger does not seem to be nearly as focused on him as it is on Rose. It was around 1892 that Rodin was planning to move his household out to the country, to . Butler suggests that this planned move was possibly an element ofthe break. She proposes that with this move,

Camille could see that Rodin was never going to leave Rose for her. Nevertheless, it is clear from these satirical drawings that there was much anger on Camille's part. "Paul

Claudel said it was central to her nature to use mockery to tyrannize others" (Butler 273).

25 There is a telegram from Camille to Rodin dated June 1893, in which she alludes to health problems and tells Rodin, "Don't come. Let's avoid scenes" (Butler 272). It was around the same time that she wrote to her brother, Paul, about her work on CAge mur.

In the letter "she particularly emphasizes her aim ofmoving away from Rodin's approach to sculpture. The works in question are to be based on scenes from everyday life"

(Eisenwerth 89). However, the subject ofL'Age mur is Rodin himself. This piece depicts a man in the center of two women. His arm is around the shoulder of an old woman that represents death, while on his left hand a young woman kneels begging him to stay. In Camille's first maquette, done in 1894, the young woman is holding the man's hand while his face inclines toward the old woman and his upper torso is leaning back as ifhe is off-balance. By the time that Camille was finished with the second version around 1898, the young woman was placed further away from the man and their hands did not touch. His body also looks as if it is already in motion away from the young woman. The old woman was raised slightly above the man and the young woman was down on a lower level. Another interesting note is on the translation of the title into

English. "The title [L'Age mur] is usually translated as Maturity or The Age of Maturity, but this does not quite convey the spirit of the original. In French, mur has the double meaning of "mature," in a positive sense, but also of "aged" or "overripe," like fruit which is already falling off the branch" (Eisenwerth 82). It is obvious that the piece was autobiographical; and the shifting of the figures seems to reflect the distance that grew in the relationship. Years later, Paul wrote about the sculpture as "a petrified moment ...

26 This young girl is my sister! My sister Camille, imploring, humiliated, on her knees; this superb, this proud young woman had depicted herself in this fashion" (qtd. in Paris

58).

Around 1895, Rodin moved to his country home in Meudon. He asked Mirbeau to arrange a meeting between him and Camille. He had not seen Camille in two years.

Apparently, the meeting was not successful. There were several reports that, "Camille sulked around the gardens at Meudon and hid in the shrubbery to watch Rodin coming home from work - a truly harrowing image" (Eisenwerth 110). There is one unconfirmed report that during one ofthese times Rose actually shot at Camille while she was in the bushes at Meudon.

In 1897, Rodin, through a mutual friend, asked Camille her opinion ofhis Balzac.

She replied, "I find it truly great, beautiful, better than all your sketches" (Butler 279). It was a very long letter in which Camille told Rodin that she did not think that Mathias

Morhardt was an honest man. Morhardt had been very kind to Camille, and her complaints about him upset Rodin. Morhardt had even arranged for her to receive a commission for casts to be made ofher bust ofRodin. She refused; saying the commission would cost her more than she would earn. She said that Morhardt and his wife were just pretending to care about her. About Morhardt's wife she wrote:

You know perfectly well all these women have a black hatred of me, as they would like to see me return to my shell, and they will use any weapon. As soon as a generous man comes along to help me out of my quandary, a woman takes him in her arms and keeps him from acting. I run the strong risk of never harvesting the fruit ofmy labor, ofjust collapsing in the dark because of these calumnies and evil suspicions. All these things that I tell you, you must keep them secret. (qtd. in Butler 279)

27 Rodin replied to Camille's letter on December 2. He let her know that her letter had upset him.

He felt she was having "difficulties with life and with [her] imagination ... remain faithful to your friends." As far as he could see, Morhardt was one ofher most devoted friends: "I suspect nothing wrong and I see no sign of cooling in your regard ... I am so sorry to see you this nervous and going in a direction that I, alas, know too well ... [You have a] true "faculty for sculpture. You have a heroic perseverance. You are an honest man [un honnete homme]." Rodin thanked her for her kind words about Balzac - "It gives me a little confidence, and I need your advice in the black hopelessness in which I have been left for dead ... Forget your feminine nature that is capable ofdispelling good will. Show your wonderful works - that is the path of reason. One is punished and one is rewarded. A genius like yours is rare." In the margin, Rodin made a sketch of Jacob struggling with the angel. He felt that this was Claudel's lot. It is clear that Rodin's love and generosity toward her remained intact, and that he understood to a remarkable degree the hell she was going through. His every effort was to make it more bearable. (qtd. in Butler 279-280)

This was the last known direct correspondence between the two of them. In his 1951 article, Paul wrote that "Separation was inevitable and the moment ... was not late in coming ... Two geniuses of equal power and of different ideals could not continue for a long time to share the same studio and the same customers" (Caranfa 36).

Between the time that Camille moved back to 113 boulevard d'ltalie and the time when she was institutionalized, she began to withdraw gradually from the world. As stated before, she was determined to break all connection with Rodin not only personally, but also stylistically. Oddly enough, she did some of her best work during this time: The

Waltz, Clotho, L'Age mur, The Gossipers, The Wave and Deep in Thought. was her most successful work. Most of her work during this period had strong biographical elements. Unfortunately, her condition deteriorated considerably during this

28 time. Several people described her apartment as filthy and filled with cats, and described

Camille as a recluse who worked feverishly.

Rodin, surrounded by glory, elegant dinners in town and more and more officially ensconced in his career, grew remote, and when he invited Camille to receptions, she refused - her excuse was that she had nothing to wear. "I can't go where you suggest," she wrote in one of her letters to Rodin, "as I have no hat or shoes, mine are all worn out." And although their relationship did not actually terminate until 1898, already in 1896 Camille asked Mathias Morhardt to intervene on her behalf by telling Rodin not to come and see her anymore. The sad truth was that Camille was languishing in semi-poverty." (paris 59)

It is true that Rodin paid Camille's rent until she moved from the apartment on boulevard d'Itlaie in 1898. Camille's father and brother also helped her financially, but sculpting is an extremely expensive art and she was a woman alone. There are several accounts of bizarre things that Camille did. Paul returned to Paris in 1895 for a brief stay and invited the writer Jules Renard to have dinner with the family. Renard was the same age as

Camille. Renard wrote an entry in his diary describing Paul and Camille's behavior that evening. He writes that Camille's face was "powdered white like a blank mask," and she

"kept losing her temper and bursting out in sudden tirades, screaming at the top of her voice that she hated music." She accused Renard of "planning to hold her up to public ridicule in his next book. Paul, meanwhile, was silently furious, his head bent low over the table as he trembled with despair and shame at his sister's conduct" (Eisenwerth 110).

She was clearly under some duress, and Paul was embarrassed. I believe that Camille's subsequent committal was a direct result of Paul's embarrassment.

The stories are not all this bad. Mathias Morhardt described Camille's life after about 1895:

When she was not working, she would spend her time looking at the people who passed by her window ... She lived there one, two, three years without receiving

29 anyone, without hearing a single friendly voice. She experienced such solitude that sometimes she would get the terrible feeling that she was losing the habit of speech, and would talk to herself aloud ... or go down to the concierge, forcing herself to take a momentary interest in neighborhood gossip. She spent long hours in museums - the , the Musee Guimet - and went on rambling, aimless walks through the city. It was the streets and parks that inspired her ... A passerby, a group ofpeople she had seen, a swarm of busy workmen, gave her a thousand ideas. As soon as she came home she would go to work with her modeling clay, recording an impression, a gesture. (Grunfeld 234)

In 1898, Camille moved to No. 63, rue de Turenne. Apparently, she had to leave several behind at the boulevard d'Italie studio, and was forced to pay huge bills for the storage ofthese items. She moved again in 1899 to 19 quai de Bourbon on the He

Ste. Louis. She lived at this address until she was taken away to the asylum in 1913.

Around 1905, Henri Asselin, a civil servant she had befriended, wrote a description of her that paints a picture of a woman in decline.

She was forty, but looked fifty ... There was such extreme negligence in the way she dressed, a total absence of any kind of stylishness. Her complexion was doughy, fading away in the precocious wrinkles and emphasized by her general state of physical decline ... However, there was not a trace of despondency in this woman, who was still active and charming. (qtd. in Butler 282)

Grunfeld's account adds that Camille "could 'go from the darkest melancholy to the most delirious gaiety,' ... she would 'rend the air with great outbursts oflaughter that chilled me to the bone.' Yet he also found her generous and unassuming, a woman ofexceptional intelligence and judgement" (Grunfeld 238). Camille also told Asselin that two of

Rodin's Italian models had forced open her shutters because Rodin had ordered them to kill her. We do not know if there really were any incidents of this kind, but it is highly unlikely. Rodin was certainly not trying to kill Camille. He was doing all that he could,

in spite of everything, to help her. We know that Rodin tried to help Camille in 1899 by sending her two Scottish women to take as students. She refused them. "Rodin was very

30 apologetic: 'He says he thinks poor Miss Claudel is overworked and that she is really ill, that this mania against seeing anyone is really an illness and that she can't be held altogether responsible for it'" (Grunfeld 237). Also, another ofRodin's efforts to help

Camille ended up backfiring on him. He was trying to help her secure a commission to have her sculpture L'Age Mur cast in bronze in 1899, although he had never actually seen it. It had been approved by the state, but when Rodin saw the sculpture and realized that his private life was the subject, the state funding was mysteriously revoked. Rodin had quashed it.

Camille's paranoia continued to grow. Eugene Blot reported that Camille had told him, "You see I'm too close to the ground here. Rodin comes around to the windows, gets on a chair and looks in to see what I'm doing" (qtd. in Grunfeld 238).

There are many documents of the time in which Camille talks about people stealing her work. This paranoia was the main reason she was afraid to show her work. She even said that a cleaning woman had "put a narcotic in my coffee ... went inside my dressing room and took The Woman with the Cross. Result, three figures ofWoman with the

Cross" (qtd. in Paris 65). All ofthese stories seemed so fantastic that they could not possibly be true and, therefore, must have been a part of her delusions. However, there are several documented cases of Camille's work being stolen and sold with no profit to her.

In 1885 Camille exhibited [Gigante] at the ... [After her death] a preliminary study was discovered ... Rodin used this as a model for the head ofAvarice in , a depiction oftwo ofthe deadly sins that also appears in The Gates ofHell . .. At least four bronze casts of[Gigante] were made... In the collection ofthe Kunsthalle Bremen there is also a cast - with a shorter neck - which bears Rodin's signature and was bought by the museum in 1960 as an example ofRodin's work. This "fake" was probably not Rodin's doing

31 but was produced by an enterprising art dealer or foundry owner who took the plaster cast from her estate, or from her faithful caster Eugene Blot, or from some other person, and then removed the part ofthe neck bearing her signature, forged Rodin's name on the remaining section, and recast the work in order to pass it off as a 'genuine' Rodin which would command a higher price. (Eisenwerth 29-30)

In addition, Grunfeld states that "pirated copies [ofCamille's Bust ofRodin] were for sale at cut-rate bric-a-brac shops" (221).

In December of 1905, Camille held a showing ofthirteen ofher works in Blot's gallery. The evening following the exhibit, her family gathered for a small celebration.

"She had a violent temper tantrum. Her family was shocked, uncomprehending: 'The poor girl is sick and I don't think she can live much longer. If she were a Christian, she would not have been so afllicted,' wrote Paul" (Butler 282).

One ofthe only documents that we have in Louis-Prosper's hand is a letter he wrote to Paul in 1909. "Up to now, no one has wanted to involve himself with her, ...

She asks for 20 francs and we send 100 francs, or she asks for nothing and even so we send her 100 francs, often several times a quarter" (qtd. in Grunfeld 240). Paul even wrote to a priest friend of his asking if it was possible to perform an exorcism in absentia on Camille. "Like most so-called cases of insanity, hers is a veritable case of possession

... I shall no doubt have to go to Paris to have her put in an asylum" (Grunfeld 240).

However, as long as Louis-Prosper was alive this was not possible. After Mr. Claudel died on March 2 in 1913, no one was left to protect her. One ofthe younger members of the family stated that the family had been plotting to have her put away. Camille herself had even mentioned the possibility ofa plot in a letter she wrote on March 10, 1913 to her cousin Charles Thierry. She wrote, "I had to disappear as quickly as I could and even though I try to make myself as small as possible in my corner, I am still in the way. They

32 have already tried to lock me up in a lunatic asylum for fear that I will harm little Jacques by claiming my rights" (qtd. in Paris 73). Ironically, later that same day Paul had her committed to the asylum at Ville-Evrard. Camille was forty-nine years old. The next year, she was transferred to Enghien, then shortly after to Montdevergues, which was near . It was in Montdevergues that Camille spent the rest ofher life.

Camille wrote most ofthe extant correspondence we have when she was in the asylum. Unfortunately, it does not give a lot of information about her life there. Camille was in her apartment on March 10, when two male nurses came in and carried her away.

They gave her no warning. She was not even absolutely sure where she was when she arrived at Ville-Evrard. She immediately began writing letters in attempts to free herself.

There were several newspaper articles by Camille's supporters denouncing her fate and imploring the powers that be to release her. The pleas did not work.

Camille did write some letters that sounded very crazy while she was in the asylum. Rodin was the main target ofher accusations. She wrote that Rodin had her committed so he could steal her work, and that he wanted to have her killed. She did not accuse Paul of committing her until near the end of her life. It is unclear how she found out, but it was only reasonable that after her mother died, Paul was the only one left. In the next section, I will discuss her mental state and provide information about paranoia and depression.

33 1.3 Mental Illness

In this section, I will look at the descriptions ofCamille's illness, definitions of paranoia, and stories ofother artists who destroyed their own work. Also, I will explore physical manifestations of her illness that would be playable as an actor.

Reine-Marie Paris relates Camille's friend, Henry Asselin's description of

Camille's behavior and mental state during her last years before being taken to the asylum:

One morning when I went to her to pose, the door was only opened after lengthy confabulation: at last, I was in the presence ofa gloomy Camille who, untidy and trembling with fear, was armed with the handle ofa broom spiked with nails. She said to me: "This night, two individuals tried to force open my shutters. I recognized them: they are two ofRodin's Italian models. He ordered them to kill me. I bother him: he wants me to disappear." The persecution complex that slowly and cruelly was undermining her reason had made alarming progress over that night. From that moment on [1905], each summer Camille would systematically destroy with hammer blows all her work ofthat year. Both her studios offered up a pathetic spectacle ofruin and devastation. Then, she would send for a carter to whom she gave the job ofburying, somewhere in the fortifications, that shapeless and miserable debris. After which, she stuck her keys under the mat and disappeared for long months at a time without leaving an address. Paul Claudel had gone back to China. I, myself, was in Tchentou, deep in Se-Tchouen, when I received a letter from Camille which began with these words: "Your bust is no more, it lived the life ofroses ..." When she does manage to get a bit ofmoney, she invites a whole mob of strange people, and they drink all night laughing like children. Isn't that a sign that a little help, happiness, friendship might have, who knows, still saved her? (qtd. in Paris 66-67)

Camille's illness has been referred to as a persecution complex, paranoia, Paranoid schizophrenia, melancholy, and alcoholism. There are no records in the medical manuals that I consulted that refer to persecution complex. This complex is grouped under the heading ofparanoia. Mental health professionals describe paranoia as an unwarranted or extremely exaggerated suspiciousness. Since some signs ofparanoia can be seen in many

34 different mental illnesses, it is often quite difficult to diagnose. From two different

sources, I learned that paranoia is divided into at least three different types:

"Paranoid Personality Disorder, Delusional (Paranoid) Disorder, and Paranoid

Schizophrenia" (Bellenir 325).

Paranoid Personality Disorder is just a generalized form ofsuspiciousness.

Persons suffering from this illness think that people do not like them or that others are

trying to undermine them in some way. According to this definition, Camille would not

fall into this category due to the specific nature ofher suspicions.

In analyzing Claudel's paranoid derangement, modem psychiatrists have found that she was obsessively focused on Rodin. She was convinced that her ambition bothered him so much that he wanted to kill her. For Claudel, this was not a fantasy but a reality. Doctors attending her in the asylum reported that she entertained a continual fear ofbeing poisoned by 'la bande a Rodin' (Rodin's gang). This obsession is critical to understanding the passion ofCamille ClaudeL She did want an exclusive relationship with Rodin, and she did idealize him and imagine what they could have been as a couple. But she also had personal ambitions, and she could imagine herself replacing him as France's preeminent sculptor ... As Claudellost her grip, she saw Rodin as the culprit and believed he had taken her ideas. Her life could not be far behind. (Butler 284)

Camille's delusion ofpersecution was specifically directed at Rodin. This fact would

make her illness fall into one ofthe other categories of paranoia.

In Delusional (Paranoid) Disorder, the person suffers from persistent, nonbizarre

delusions, and has no symptoms of other mental illnesses. "Delusions are firmly held

beliefs that are untrue, not shared by others in the culture, and not easily modifiable"

(Bellenir 327). Camille's delusion that Rodin was after her was notbizarre. It was

untrue, but not outside the realm ofpossibilities. She did seem to link many other people,

such as the Huguenots, to Rodin's "plot." Her reason for thinking the Huguenots were

35 .. involved was due to an incident involving a founder, Hebrardt, who had somehow been

unfair with her. So, the delusion was at least remotely linked to reality.

The persecutory delusion may be simple or elaborate, and usually involves a single theme or series ofconnected themes, such as being conspired against, cheated, spied upon, followed, poisoned or drugged, maliciously maligned, harassed, or obstructed in the pursuit of long-term goals. Small slights may be exaggerated and become the focus ofa delusional system ... People with persecutory delusions are often resentful and angry, and may resort to violence against those they believe are hurting them. (DSM 200)

Most patients suffering from this particular disorder are able to function normally as long as they are not involved in the specific theme oftheir paranoia. They may go for long periods of time without thinking oftheir persecutor and appearing quite normal. Their thoughts tend to stay rational when engaged in any other topic. Also, the age ofonset for this particular disorder is usually between 40 and 50. This fits the time frame for the onset ofCamille's problems.

On the other hand, Paranoid Schizophrenia involves bizarre delusions and hallucinations such as patients' beliefs that others are controlling their thoughts or that their thoughts are somehow being broadcast aloud. Paranoid Schizophrenics also exhibit quick changes in thought that often make them quite difficult to understand in conversation. They do not acknowledge these shifts in thought, rather they just continue talking on a new subject. Many schizophrenics claim to hear voices that other people

cannot hear. Their performance of normal household or job-related duties usually

deteriorates, sometimes to the point of complete confusion and intellectual

disorganization.

The disturbance often involves flat or inappropriate affect. In flat affect, there are virtually no signs of affective expression; the voice is usually monotonous and the face, immobile. Sudden and unpredictable changes in affect involving

36 inexplicable outbursts ofanger may occur. Difficulty with interpersonal relationships is almost invariably present. Often this takes the form ofsocial withdrawal and emotional detachment. Almost any symptom can occur as an associated feature. The person may appear perplexed, disheveled, or eccentrically groomed or dressed. Dysphoric mood is common, and may take the form of depression, anxiety, anger, or a mixture ofthese. Onset is usually during adolescence or early adulthood, but the disorder may begin in middle or late adult life. (DSM 189-190)

There are other matters pertaining to Camille's state ofbeing before and after her incarceration. Pictures of Camille during this time show that she had gained a lot of weight, which could bea sign of depression or alcoholism. Certainly alcoholism would exacerbate any depression from which she may have been suffering. And it would make perfect sense for her to be depressed. She was living in extreme poverty and social conditions made it virtually impossible for her to attain the artistic status to which she aspired. Her apartment was described as filthy, with a lot ofcats roaming around. "In

1909, Paul Claudel wrote in his journal: 'In Paris, Camille mad ... huge and looking filthy, speaking incessantly in a monotonous and metallic voice.' Then, in 1911, these two crossed-out lines: 'November 27, Camille, at four o'clock in the morning, ran away from home, we don't know where she is'" (qtd. in Paris 68). This entry corroborates Henry

Asselin's statement about Camille leaving her key under the mat and disappearing for months without informing anyone as to her whereabouts. The monotone voice could have been a sign ofdepression. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ofMental

Disorders states the following about depression:

Sleep is commonly disturbed, the more frequent complaint being insomnia, but sometimes hypersomnia. Psychomotor agitation takes the form of inability to sit still, pacing, hand-wringing, pulling or rubbing ofhair, skin, clothing, or other objects. Psychomotor retardation may take the form ofslowed speech, increased pauses before answering, soft or monotonous speech, slowed body movements, a markedly decreased amount ofspeech (poverty ofspeech), or

37 muteness. A decrease in energy level is almost invariably present, and is experienced as a sustained fatigue even in the absence of physical exertion. The smallest task may seem difficult or impossible to accomplish. The sense of worthlessness or guilt may be ofdelusional proportions. Commonly associated features include tearfulness, anxiety, irritability, brooding or obsessive rumination, excessive concern with physical health, panic attacks, and phobias. When delusions or hallucinations are present, their content is usually clearly consistent with the predominant mood (mood-congruent). A common delusion is that one is being persecuted because of a moral transgression or some personal inadequacy. There may be nihilistic delusions ofworld or personal destruction, somatic delusions ofcancer or other serious illness, or delusions of poverty. Hallucinations, when present, are usually transient and not elaborate, and may involve voices that berate the person for his or her shortcomings or sins. Less commonly the content ofthe hallucinations or delusions has no apparent relationship to the mood disturbance (mood-incongruent). This is particularly the case with persecutory delusions, in which the person may be at a loss to explain why he or she should be the object ofpersecution. Less common mood-incongruent psychotic symptoms include thought insertion, thought broadcasting, and delusions ofcontrol. Predisposing factors ofDepression - Chronic physical illness and Psychoactive Substance Dependence, particularly Alcohol and Cocaine Dependence, apparently predispose to the development ofa Major Depressive Episode. Frequently a Major Depressive Episode follows a psychosocial stressor, particularly death ofa loved one, marital separation, or divorce. Childbirth sometimes precipitates a Major Depressive Episode. In Schizophrenia there are usually some depressive symptoms. (DSM 219-221)

In Paris' book, there is also an account from Dr. Michaux, who was a child when

Camille lived in his building. His father was the physician who signed the commitment

. papers enabling Paul to have Camille incarcerated.

My parents forbade me to go to Camille Claudel's (to whom we were vaguely and distantly related). They were afraid that I would enter this Capernaum where a virgin forest ofspider webs had accumulated in the midst ofbusts and the comings and goings ofat least a dozen cats. It was there that I got my first lesson in psychiatry, and I cannot speak or write about psychotic paranoia without thinking of my disheveled neighbor in her white dressing gown who spoke about "that scoundrel ofa Rodin" while he, to my ten-year-old eyes, took on the proportions of a mythological character. (qtd. in Paris 75-76)

38 It is impossible to tell exactly what Camille's diagnosis would have been.

However, it is helpful to look at the symptoms ascribed to her, as well as symptoms related to the disorders she may possibly have had. There have been many other accounts ofartists who have destroyed their own work. I have found no exact diagnosis for them either, but I have found similarities in personality type. Of particular interest were two cases described in the book Creativity and Madness: Psychological Studies ofArt and

Artists. These case histories give me insight as to why Camille may have destroyed her own work. The first is the case of a contemporary artist named John who had remarkably similar personality traits to Camille. His illness had several direct parallels to Camille's.

They were both extremely gifted but spoiled children. They both worked feverishly and did everything with intense fervor. They both ultimately destroyed their own art.

Another artist described in the book was . The descriptions of his behavior also seemed similar to Camille's. I found it interesting to read that both he and

John had substance abuse problems. This supports the idea that Camille may have been drinking. It seems that the idea ofcontrol is a major factor in all the cases.

According to Berman:

John was a difficult and precocious child from infancy. He sat up, walked and talked early, was active and curious, and demanded everyone's attention. He did everything with furious intensity: he laughed hard, cried hard and played hard; he even ate and slept hard. He was stubborn and perfectionistic. If things were not done his way, he would become very frustrated and throw tantrums. He was described as a "spoiled," bossy child, who needed to orchestrate and control. John showed remarkable artistic talent from early childhood. He would spend hours drawing, coloring, and modeling clay. He worked with characteristic intensity and concentration. (66)

39 Berman goes on to state that:

The first hint that things were taking a turn for the worse came from the patient's appearance. He began to look thin, tired, and more disheveled than usual. It gradually emerged that he had been painting furiously and barely eating or sleeping. He also confessed that he had resumed smoking pot. He expressed a morbid dissatisfaction with his work and with himself (Berman 71)

This seems to mirror what was said about Camille's appearance and behavior in the years prior to her incarceration. Likewise it is reported that Vincent van Gogh had a similar deterioration in appearance. After being hurt by a woman that he loved from a distance

(but she did not love him), van Gogh

began to isolate himself, became very religious, and began to be rude to the art dealers' customers and coworkers. Previously well-dressed, he became slovenly in his habits. He was described at this early age as being peculiar and strange ... He was known to tell customers, "Don'tbuy this painting. Art dealers are thieves. They steal from the artists and they steal from the customers." (panter 3-4)

Berman also states that with John, as well as with other creative patients, he noticed a tendency to "dramatize and mythologizetheir histories: to distort people and events of their past through fantasy and exaggerated emotional intensity . .. There seems to be little doubt that artists employ their creativity in attempting to work through trauma" (Berman 75). Perhaps this was the case with Camille's paranoia regarding

Rodin. Maybe she merely had a tendency to over-dramatize the situation.

As for the destruction ofher work, one explanation.would have been a need to control the finished product. It is clear that Camille had little control over her work after it left her studio. Perhaps Camille was destroying her work so that it would always be under her control. Or maybe the destruction was related to her wanting to reinvent her style as an artist.

40 While [John] regretted having destroyed his art work and recognized the "craziness" in such acts, they still had, for him, a certain rationale. He believed he had reached a critical point in his artistic development. He could either have been content to sell his work as it was, or try to achieve further growth - to strike out in new directions. After much agonizing and soul searching, he decided on the latter course. This required that he break apart the pieces so that something new could be created; that he desynthesize in order to resynthesize. (Berman 65)

This idea ofdesynthesizing in order to resynthesize would fit with Camille's desire to extract her work from the work ofRodin. She stated in a letter to Paul that she was breaking from Rodin's style to develop a style of her own. Perhaps the destruction was a necessary component ofthis separation.

These case histories have been helpful to me in the development ofCamille's character. Perhaps most useful are the literal physical descriptions included here. They are the real "playable nuggets" because the script has very little dialogue and focuses on movement. The physicality is useful because an actor cannot play crazy. Even if

Camille really was insane, I do not feel that Camille thought she was crazy at any point.

She realized that some ofthe things she did were not rational to other people, but she had perfectly logical reasons for doing what she did. She was trying to save her own work from being stolen, and she was trying to make a name for herselfas an artist separate from Rodin. However, due to the fact that she was diagnosed as paranoid, it was necessary to use some ofthe physicality ofthe disease. Amongst the behaviors I chose to use were pacing, hand wringing, quick changes in emotion, and the paralysis caused by depression.

41 1.4 World of the Play

Certainly, Camille was aware ofFrance's tumultuous political history. She was

an avid reader, tending toward reading works ofRenan and Huysmann. I did not feel that

it was necessary to my development ofthe character to become an expert in the complicated politics ofFrance, but I do include a chart of important historical dates in

Appendix B. What I found useful was information specifically related to the treatment and position of women during the time period, as well as any information I could find on

what life in an asylum might have been like.

In order to get a general idea ofthe atmosphere ofthe time period I found several

films extremely helpful. The film Camille Claudel gave me a good look at studios ofthe time, dress ofthe period, and a general idea ofthe time period. My Father's Glory, a film set in France around the turn ofthe century, gave a good impression offamily life ofthe time. It had scenes that reminded me of what it might have been like for Camille to roam the moors with Paul in their childhood. Total Eclipse depicted the decadence of some artists in the nineteenth century and I Accuse was a historically accurate account ofthe

Dreyfus affair (which Camille mentions in one ofher letters).

I spent the summer listening to music ofthe period. I mostly listened to Debussy,

since Camille was supposed to have been friends with him, and may even have had a

relationship with him. I also listened to other composers ofthe time such as Saint-Saens,

Grieg, Respighi, and Dvorak simply because they were in my personal collection. The

other composer I listened to was Mussorgsky, because Camille specifically mentions him

in a letter. When invited to a Mussorgsky concert, she refused but stated that she was a

42 Mussorgsky supporter. I felt it was helpful to have the music that she may have listened to in my memory.

Nineteenth century France was a difficult place for Camille to be aspiring to greatness as a female sculptor. It is true that Paris was considered the center ofthe art world, and that there was considerable state support for art in France. There were

"ateliers feminins," private art schools for women run by successful , but women were not admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Therefore, Camille attended the

Colarossi Academy until she went to work for Rodin.

It is also true that in the latter part ofthe century there was a "" emerging in society. Many bourgeois women sought a life of independence and professional success. However, society in general was reticent to accept this new woman.

[The new woman] was represented most commonly as perverted "other" to natural, domestic womanhood. The medical profession corroborated this view of the femme nouvelle as pathological. P. J. Proudhon, the radical and influential socialist working toward egalitarianism, retreated into a most reactionary position in the face ofthe independent woman's supposed threat to the established order. A woman was either a housewife or a whore, to quote his notorious pronouncement, and certainly without genius. "Je nie radicalement les genies femmes" ["I absolutely deny the existence of women geniuses"]. Proudhon had the same stake in keeping women away from intellectual pursuits as he had in keeping them out ofthe workplace - they were needed for domestic duty. The decline ofthe birthrate in France amplified fears ofindependent women and was promptly alleged to be an issue of national security. Clarisse Bader, in her history ofmodem women, published in 1885 and including the views of revolutionary women, held the dominant conservative view that women are made for domesticity and are neither as intelligent nor as strong as men. She believed, however, that women could create distinguished works ofart, worthy ofdisplay in the Louvre, as long as their domestic duties always came first. Accordingly, a better role than artist for a woman was "inspiratrice" for a male artist. (Mathews 66)

43 Perhaps the most detrimental aspect ofFrench culture that made Camille's aspirations virtually impossible was the beliefthat women could not be geniuses. Rodin believed in Camille's work and promoted her to a certain extent. But, she did not want to be associated with him after their break. She wanted to be successful on her own merit.

After her break with Rodin, Camille "devoted her energies to trying to capture psychological overtones. She wanted to create a new genre of narrative sculpture based on everyday life. Her phrase 'You see it's no longer at all like Rodin and [they] are dressed!' is significant. Drapery, always an important element in Camille's sculpture, became even more so" (Paris 58). She was a woman alone, and without Rodin to intercede for her with founders and casters, and to otherwise protect her interests, people took advantage of her and stole from her.

Although her work was admired and regularly exhibited, she did not receive the public commissions needed to support the expensive processes of bronze casting and marble sculpture and therefore could not sustain a financially viable career. Her father and brother helped her, but she fell into increasing poverty and her health deteriorated. (Mathews 81)

I have described in the previous section her living conditions prior to her incarceration at Ville-Evrard.

Unfortunately, the Law of 1838 states that a family member can commit a person with the signature ofonly one physician. This made it quite simple to commit Camille when she did not live up to her family's expectations.

In the Victorian era, there was no longer any need to bum women at the stake. They could be incarcerated in the asylum. Thus, women of the nineteenth century who attempted to create a life oftheir own, striving for independence, could be thwarted and dismissed through being diagnosed as mad. As female psychology was linked with reproduction, any woman deviating from the prescribed role of good wife and mother was liable to be treated by one of the available 'cures'. The latter were, quite simply, an extension ofthe general ethos which prevented women from achieving autonomy; from finding an outlet for artistic or literary 44 talent; or discovering an opportunity to develop skills or follow a profession. From the end ofthe nineteenth century, the institutionalization ofthe insane had become an accepted part of society - the segregation ofthe mad within psychiatric discourse the norm. (Ussher 88-89 & 98)

In 1913, just eight days after Louis-Prosper's death, Paul had Camille committed as a third class patient to the Ville-Evrard asylum. She was transferred to the asylum at

Montdevergues, near Avignon, in 1914. Although little information was available regarding her life in the asylum, I will provide some ofthe evidence that I found helpful.

Ville-Evrard was a public insane asylum with 1,060 beds. I do not have facts as to the size ofMontdevergues, but Riviere provided a photograph ofthe exterior in her book on

Claudel that was helpful. Grunfeld quotes a note from Paul's journal about the asylum:

"The mad women ofVille-Evrard. The doddering old women. The one who babbled in

English the whole time in a soft voice like a sick starling. Those who wander about without saying anything. Sitting in the corridor, head in hand. The terrible sadness of these souls ... " (qtd. in Grunfeld 240). Camille wrote frequently about how unnerving it was for her to live with the poor creatures, but she wrote little of how her days were spent and such. Here I include quotes from Camille's letters that relate to asylum life. They gave some insight as to her situation in the asylum.

In a letter to Henriette Thierry from inside Montdevergues Asylum (undated);

Camille wrote: "I am watched at night as well as during the day like a criminal. ...

Useless to try and describe all what I have suffered since I was tom away from my studio to be locked up in these horrible homes!" (qtd. in Paris 137). And to Paul after May 1915, she wrote:

You yourself came to see me at the end ofMay and I made you promise to look after me and not leave me abandoned like this. How is it that you haven't written

45 me a single time since and that you haven't returned to see me. Do you think I enjoy spending months like this, the years without ever any news, without a hope! What is the reason for this cruelty? How do they manage to lead you so astray? I would like to know. To tell the truth, I would prefer to return to ordinary life and forget all these adventures. You can tell Mother that if she is afraid that I will claim the Villeneuve property, I have no such intention; I would rather make a gift to Jacques ofeverything I inherit and spend the rest ofmy life in peace. I would even prefer to be only a maid than to continue to live like this. (qtd. in Paris 142-143)

And in a letter to Mlle. Gesua around 1915:

Mother wrote me a letter a few days ago but she does not speak at all about taking me out, there is still no question of my leaving! I have cried a lot since you left. When you were here, it gave me a bit ofcourage! I am the one who has taken your place in chapel but I am a long way from having your fine presence! I have to go to Avignon tomorrow with Sister Saint Hildefonse to have my teeth fixed. (qtd. in Paris 145)

Camille wrote to Dr. Michaux in 1918. (Camille did not know that Dr. Michaux was the one who had signed her commitment papers for Paul. She was writing to him to ask that he help her get out ofthe asylum.)

Here, they give me 150 francs a month and one should see how I am looked after; my relatives don't pay any attention to me and only answer my pleas with a stubborn silence; thus, they do with me what they will. It is terrible to be so abandoned. I can't help but succumb to the grief that overwhelms me ... Mother and my sister have given instructions that I be confined in the most absolute fashion, none of my letters leave, no visitor enters. By means ofall this, my sister has gotten hold ofmy inheritance and she is determined that I never leave prison. Also, I beg you not to write to me here and not to say that I have written you as I write in secret against the rules ofthe establishment and ifthey knew they would make me pay for it dearly ... (qtd. in Paris 77-79)

In a letter from Camille to her mother February 2, 1927, she wrote:

I am very late writing you because it has been so cold that I could barely stand up. To write I could not bring myself to go to the common room where a mean little fire bums, the racket there is infernal. I am forced to stay put in my room on the second floor where it is so icy that I am numb, my fingers shake and I can't hold a pen. I haven't been warm all winter. I am frozen to the bone and bent in two by the cold. I had a very bad cold. One of my friends, a poor teacher from the Lycee Fenelon who ended up here, was found dead from the cold in her bed. It is

46 terrible. You have no idea ofhow cold it is in Montdevergues. And it lasts seven months in all. Never can you know how much I suffer in these homes. Also to my surprise and horror, I learned that Paul was going to have me put in first class. Strange how you have never been here yet you know better than I what suits me. You spend money left and right: who knows all that you have spent? I have already told you several times that those in first class, are the most miserable. First ofall, their dining room is in a draft, they sit at a tiny little table, all squeezed together. From one end ofthe year to the other, they all have dysentery, not a sign that the food is good. The basic food is as follows. Soup, that is to say, water and badly cooked vegetables without ever any meat. An old beef stew in an oily black sauce, sour all the year round, an old dish ofmacaroni swimming in grease, for hors d'oeuvres, a few tiny [illegible word] of raw ham, for dessert, some stringy old dates, three tough old figs or three old biscuits or an old piece of she-goat cheese. So much tor your 20 francs a day. The wine is vinegar, the coffee is chick-pea water. That's the real proof ofmadness to spend money like that. As for the room, it's the same thing, there is nothing in it at all, not a quilt or a sanitary bucket, nothing, an ugly chipped chamber pot only three quarters of the time, an ugly iron bed on which one shakes with cold all night long (I who hate iron beds, you should see how I suffer in it, so consequently, I beg you to act according to my taste and not yours). I don't want to stay in first class at any price and when you receive this letter, I beg you to have me put back in third where I was before. In spite of my pleas, since you stubbornly insist on keeping me in mental homes where I am horribly unhappy and denied any kind of justice, at least economize your money and if it's Paul, let him know my opinions. I received the hat, it fits, the coat is fine, the stockings, they are wonderful, and the rest of what you sent me. Above all, don't think of sending more money after the letter I just wrote you, either for firewood or anything else, your money goes straight to the office, period, that's all, while I, I must suffer like a martyr. Don't do anything without consulting me first. Lunatic asylums are specifically designed to make people suffer, one can't do anything about it especially ifone never sees anyone. Mainly, hurry and write Paul to have me put back the way I was before, for I could still eat and in first class, I won't be able to eat at all. I don't want to go near all that fat which makes me terribly sick, I've asked for baked potatoes noon and night, I'll live off them, is it worth paying 20 francs for that? Proofthat you are the ones who are crazy. As for me, I am so heartbroken that I have to keep living here that I am no longer a human being. I can't stand the screams of all those creatures anymore, they break my heart. God, how I wish I were back in Villeneuve! I didn't do what I did to end up as a large number in a mental home. I deserved something else, may it please Berthelot. You ask me what I need in my next package. Don't put any chocolate as I still have a lot. Put 1 kilo ofBrazilian coffee (it is excellent) 1 kilo ofbutter 1 kilo of sugar and more

47 1 kilo of flour 1/2 pound of tea, always the same 2 bottles of wine (white) 1/2 bottle ofordinary oil 1 little parcel of salt 1 piece of soap 2 boxes of cubes (I still have some) a few mandarins, if you can, put in a little jar of brandied cherries, but if it is too expensive, don't put any in. That will be enough like that. (qtd. in Paris 151-154)

Then to her mother February 18, 1927, Camille wrote:

I received your wonderful package today. It arrived in good shape, all the things are excellent, I am always well fed despite being so far away. The store, Potin, is most conscientious, you can compliment them; the wine is delicious and does me a world of good, the coffee is delicious, the butter too; what a difference compared to filthy food of lunatic asylums. I can live again when your package arrives, as a matter of fact, I only live off what it contains, as far as the food is concerned, it makes me horribly sick, it is not at all worth paying 30 francs a day for first. (qtd. in Paris 154-155)

To Paul March 3, 1927 about him having her moved to first class, she wrote:

I am sure you mean to help me. You mean well and so does the director but in a lunatic asylum these things are difficult to obtain, changes are difficult to make; even if one wants to, it is difficult to create a state in which things are bearable. There are established rules, there is an adapted way of life, to go against the practices is extremely hard! It means taking into account all sorts ofterrible, violent, yelling, threatening creatures. One needs a very strict discipline for that, occasionally even a harsh one, otherwise one would never see the end of it. It all screams, sings, yells at the top of its lungs from morning to night and night to morning. These are the creatures whose own parents can't abide them, they are so terrible and noxious. And how is it that I should be forced to stand them? To say nothing ofthe troubles that arise from such promiscuity? It laughs, it sobs, it tells stories that never end where the details get all jumbled up and lost! How awful to be in the middle ofit all, I have to be taken out ofthis place after fourteen years today that I was committed! I shout out loud for freedom. My dream would be to return to Villeneuve right away and never again move, I would rather have an old barn in Villeneuve than to be a first-class boarder here ... It is not without regret that I watch you spend your money on a lunatic asylum. Money which I could use to make beautiful works and to live comfortably! What a misfortune! I could weep about it. Arrange with the director to have me returned to third class or else take me out of here right away, that would be even better. What happiness ifI could find myself back again at Villeneuve! The lovely Villeneuve, there's

48 nothing quite like it on earth! It was fourteen years ago today that I had the unpleasant surprise of seeing two policemen enter my studio, they were armed to the teeth, helmeted and booted, and very menacing. Sad surprise for an artist: instead of a reward, this is what happened to me! I am the one these things happen to, I've always been the butt of meanness. God, what I have had to endure since that day. And no hope it will ever end. Each time I write to Mother to take me back to Villeneuve, she answers that the house is about to cave in. It is for the best from all points ofview. Nevertheless, I am longing to leave this place. The longer it is, the harder it is! I don't know if you intend to leave me here but it is very cruel of you! ... The only thing I want is to leave here, no modification can ever make me happy here; there is no possible good in it ... To know that one is so comfortable in Paris and to have to give it up for a few whims in your head ... Above all, should a misfortune occur, don't abandon me here all alone and don't do anything without consulting me. Considering that I know the customs ofthe establishment, I am the one who knows what I need ... Don't take offense at my letter. If you don't intend to come and see me, you should convince Mother to make the trip, I would be happy to see her again ... Your wife did not want to see me, nor did the others. I no longer hope to see them again. Your sister Camille. (qtd. in Paris 155-157)

On March 3, 1930 Camille wrote to Paul:

Today, the 3rd ofMarch, is the anniversary of the day I was taken to Ville-Evrard: that makes 17 years since Rodin and the art dealers sent me away to lunatic asylums to do penance. . . From time to time, they pretend to improve my lot but it doesn't last long, it's a sham! Lately, they have built a big kitchen about 1 kilometer away from the home; that provided me with an outing and a walk. It didn't last. .. I got the order not to go there anymore, without a reason, again I've been confined. I am so weary ofthis bondage. I would so love to be at home and able to shut the door properly. I don't know if this dream will come true, to be home ... (qtd. in Paris 158-159)

And on April 4, 1932, she continued in another letter:

My dear Paul, Yesterday, Saturday, I had a lovely surprise, they called me down to the sitting room and there was Chouchette, Roger, and Pierre. One could not have given me a nicer surprise... .I received them hobbledy-hop with rheumatism on my knee, wearing a worn-out old coat, and old hat from the Samaritaine which fell down on my nose. [... ] I am going through a bad period at the moment. They've begun installing the central heating. There are workmen allover the house... I would so like to be next to the fireplace in Villeneuve but alas! I don't think I'll ever leave Montdevergues, the way things are moving! It does not look good! (qtd. in Paris 159-160)

49 In a draft of a letter to Paul, unfinished and undated. (around 1932), Camille wrote:

I have to hide to write you and I don't know how I'll get my letter mailed. The woman on duty who usually grants me this favor (in return for greasing her palm!) is sick. The others would betray me to the director like a criminal. For don't forget, Paul, your sister is in prison. In prison and with lunatics who yell all day long, make faces, are incapable ofsaying three words that make sense. For nearly twenty years, that is the treatment inflicted on an innocent; as long as Mother was alive, I never stopped begging her to get me out ofhere, to put me somewhere else, anywhere, in a hospital, in a convent, but not with lunatics (qtd. in Paris 160-161)

In an undated letter, probably written in 1938 or 1939, Camille said, "Actually, they are trying to force me to sculpt here and seeing that they can't, they are making all sorts oftrouble for me but that won't convince me, on the contrary" (qtd. in Paris 162­

163).

It is obvious from her letters that Camille was miserable in the asylum. Her biggest complaints seem to have been the other inmates and the food. She was not violent or aggressive. "She never had to undergo any painful medical treatments.

According to witnesses, in the course oftime, she became gentler and more subdued"

(paris 79). We know that the attendants in the asylum were nuns. Paris reports that one ofthe nuns who took care of Camille while in the asylum said that she was:

so silent and diminished that she virtually passed unnoticed. More than just resigned, she was amorphous. Besides, she wasconfined to the nonviolent section where inmates did not need any surveillance or special help except to get dressed in the morning and at night. No one knew she had been a sculptor. Her only title was that she was Paul Claudel's sister. According to the nun, the facilities at Montdevergues were decent. The food was plentiful and adequate, and the staffate it as well. No communal activities were ever organized, and since the inmates had few visitors, they suffered from enormous mental deprivation, which only the often silent care ofthe sisters mitigated. (79-80)

50 Paul visited Camille a few times while she was in the asylum, and his children visited her once a few years before her death. Jessie Lipscomb and her husband visited

Camille at least once, "and she and her husband came away with the impression that

Camille was definitely not insane. However, it is well-known that paranoia tends to follow an episodic pattern. Severe bouts ofderangement alternate with phases of relative normality" (Eisenwerth 113). Jessie gave no details as to the conditions in the asylum.

Camille's mother and sister never visited her in the asylum. In fact, it was her mother who would not agree to her release. The doctor from the asylum wrote to Mrs. Claudel stating that he felt Camille should be released. Camille also wrote many letters begging her mother to allow her to return to Villeneuve. Mrs. Claudel refused.

Paul never so totally abandoned Camille as did his mother, yet he did not release her when doctors recommended it, nor after their mother's death in 1929. His public position as diplomat demanded propriety that he feared, perhaps, Camille would disrupt. Claudel's offer to give up her inheritance suggests that money may have been an issue in her continued incarceration, especially considering that she was committed so swiftly after her father's death. (Mathews 83)

Along with the letters of Camille, I have found some personal accounts from inmates in asylums during the same time period. Most of the accounts I found were

American, but I did find the information useful. In Geller and Chesler's forward they discuss the conditions ofwomen in asylums around the turn ofthe century. "Some asylum women did not speak; some spoke and made no sense. Some wept incessantly; some were violent. However, most women in asylums did not start out -or even become- insane" (xxiii). This supports the idea that women ofthe time period were institutionalized for reasons other than insanity.

51 One inmate described the "animal-like snarls and curses ofmy neighbor on the right when she was 'disturbed,' or the penetrating moans ofthe woman on my left, crying for her daughter" (Geller 240). Another inmate speaks of not having been outside ofher building alone for three years, "save for that one walk when I had managed to escape from Ward No. 13" (Geller 240). She speaks ofbeing confused. "The world became less and less real. The monotony was lulling. I was quiet and nonthinking for a long time.

That was,I suppose, the beginning ofextended periods ofstupor which were to come"

(Geller 237). In my reading about Camille, it seems that there were long periods for her ofdoing nothing. I imagine she spent a lot oftime just sitting. "Day after day passes.

Nothing but the same routine. My life is a hardship as much as it is a blank" (Geller

215). Perhaps she was making an effort to be cooperative in order that she might be released. One inmate in Gellers book speaks ofdoing that. "I am making an effort to win my dismissal. I am docile; I make efforts to be industrious as well as to entertain myself and others" (Geller 216). Another inmate said, "We do not live here, we only get through the time ... You know how aimless the life is here; yet we try to make the best ofour unhappy lot" (Geller 210). The inmate stated that treatment consisted of "regular hours, long nights of sleep, low diet, a daily walk and discipline. Very few ofthe ladies apparently take medicine" (Geller 208). I got a strong mental image of asylum life from the following statement "In the asylum the inmate becomes part ofa great iron machine, which continues to revolve, carrying her with it. Very little attention is paid to her in particular; and inquiries in regard to leaving meet with no response" (Geller 204).

I can only piece together fragments of what life in the asylum might have been for

Camille. I fmd it hard to believe that the nuns would have used some ofthe tactics

52 described by the inmates in Geller's book, but there is no way ofknowing for certain. We know that Camille was carried from her home against her will, probably in a straight jacket. In the script she is "straight-jacketed." I think it is essential to remember the chaos ofthe asylum juxtaposed with the imposed routine. The hours of doing absolutely nothing, of waiting to be released, the sounds ofthe other inmates and the indignity are perhaps the most haunting aspects ofall the accounts.

1.5 Summary

Once I began rehearsals for the autumn quarter, the benefits ofthe research I had done became apparent. There were numerous occasions in which the research was not only useful to me, but to the cast in general, as well as to Thompson. There were times that I had to forget my research and just be in the moment, but the knowledge was still with me, informing my acting decisions. I address these instances in further detail throughout the following chapters.

53 CHAPTER 2

PRODUCTION CIRCUMSTANCES

In the autumn quarter of2001, The Ohio State University's Department of Theatre mounted a production ofUncommon Clay. The play, devised by Associate Professor

Jeanine Thompson, was performed in the Thurber Theatre ofthe Drake Performance and

Event Center. The Thurber Theatre seats 600 audience members using a continental seating arrangement. The proscenium stage is 22' 0" high, 35'0" wide, and 40'0" deep.

The raised orchestra pit is located downstage ofthe plaster line and acts as an apron, adding an additional 11'0" to the total stage depth. However, it was not used in this production. There are additional acting areas provided by the apron to the left and right ofthe proscenium arch. Uncommon Clay utilized the apron area on the stage left side of the proscenium for Current Camille. The offstage wing space in Thurber Theatre is 34'0" on stage right and 20'0" on stage left. Thurber Theatre also includes a hydraulic orchestra lift, a counterweight fly system, stereo sound capabilities, and moving lights.

th The production opened on November 7th. and ran through the 9 , then again

November 13th. through the 18th.. Jeanine Thompson directed the show with J. Briggs

Cormier, Ph. D. candidate, acting as the Assistant Director. The producer was Mark

Shanda. Uncommon Clay was the thesis project for Costume Designer, Tatjana

Longerot, and Lighting Designer, Kristopher D. Jones. Katie Whitlock, a Ph. D.

54 candidate, designed the extensive sound while Dan Gray, the Department ofTheatre's

Resident Scenic Designer, designed the set. All designers, with the exception ofDan

Gray, participated in a workshop ofthe production in the spring of2001.

Work on this project began in the spring of200 1 with a full quarter devoted to development ofthe movement style, ensemble, character, and script, as well as the overall look ofthe show through the use ofimprovisation and research. Auditions for the

spring quarter were held on January 25 and 26 with callbacks on Sunday, January 28,

2001. The original cast consisted of:

Young Camille: Allyson Rosen

Maiden Camille: Eleni Papaleonardos

Matron Camille: Maria Angeles Romero

Crone Camille: Naomi Hatsfelt

Current Camille: Christina Sidebottom

Sculptor Camille: Kathleen Gonzales

Paul Claudel: Jeremy Meier

Young Paul: Dean Evans

Auguste Rodin: Kenderick Hardy

Rose Beuret: Jennifer Manvich

Ensemble: Sara Borgeson, Heather Burley, Chris Cooper,

Kelly Cox, Dean Evans, David E. Lintzenich,

Jennifer Manvich, Erin Mayhugh, A1lyson Morgan,

Colin Sweet, Maja Palmquist, Sarah Lynne

Uetrecht, Cheri Walters

55 Jennifer Rankin, an undergraduate theatre major, wasthe Stage Manager and Erin

Riddle, also an undergraduate theatre major, was the Assistant Stage Manager. Chris

Cooper, a graduate student from the Department ofDance, was present at the first meeting but left the show soon after due to scheduling conflicts. He had been a member ofJeanine Thompson's MFA Thesis Project in The Ohio State University's Department of

Dance in 1993 when she first created Uncommon Clay as a dance theatre piece.

Undergraduate theatre major Cheri Walters left the cast towards the middle ofthe quarter upon deciding to leave Ohio State in order to pursue training at the Marcel Marceau

Mime School in Paris, France. The spring quarter began March 26, 2001 with rehearsals beginning on that same day. I was informed on April 25, one month after rehearsals began, that this was to be my thesis role. My thesis proposal was due on May 7,2001.

The company worked from March 26 through May 31 on the development ofthe piece with a public showing on June 1,2001. This showing was done as a work in progress with temporary costumes, set, sound and lights. It was understood that it was an incomplete work. It consisted oftwelve short scenes with very little dialogue.

Thompson held a post-show discussion and received positive feedback from audience members.

When the company reassemble in the autumn of 2001, Jeanine decided to cast replacements for the people we had lost in the spring, as well as for undergraduate theatre major, Kelly Cox, who had to leave the show due to scheduling conflicts. Autumn auditions were held September 20 and 21st. Jeanine chose not to have a callback.

56 The final cast list was:

Young Camille: Allyson Rosen

Maiden Camille: Eleni Papaleonardos

Matron Camille: Maria Angeles Romero

Crone Camille: Naomi Hatsfelt

Current Camille: Christina Sidebottom

Sculptor Camille: Kathleen Gonzales

Paul Claudel: Jeremy Meier

Auguste Rodin: Kenderick Hardy

Rose Beuret: Jennifer Manvich

Louise Claudel: Sara Borgeson

Ensemble: Mark Bernhardt, Heather Burley, Dean Evans,

Laurel Jackson, Allyson Morgan, Joey Schultz,

Cohn Sweet, Sarah Lynne Uetrecht

Jennifer Rankin did not return as Stage Manager, and, therefore, Erin Riddle took the position. Keri Godsey, also an undergraduate theatre major, was the Assistant Stage

Manager. Jen Schlueter, a first year MA student, was the dramaturg. Mark Shanda was the Technical Director with Jim Knapp as the Production Coordinator. Undergraduate

theatre majors Katy Rite and Eric H. Mayer assisted Sound Designer Katie Whitlock.

Undergraduate theatre major Christ Athanas assisted Kristopher D. Jones with the

Lighting Design. Joseph F. Scharrer managed the Box Office, and the House Managers

were undergraduate theatre majors Wendy Hoop and Katie Miller.

57 The production schedule for Uncommon Clay was as follows:

Auditions: September 20 and 21,2001

Callbacks: None

Working Rehearsals: September 24,2001 - October 30, 2001

Technical Rehearsals: October 31 - November 2,2001

Dress Rehearsals: November 3,5, and 6,2001

Opening Night: November 7,2001 at 7:30 PM.

Performance Run: November 8 - 9, November 13 - 16 at 8:00 PM

Matinee performance November 18 at 4:00 PM

This chapter has included a description ofthe production circumstances and the creative team for The Ohio State University's production ofUncommon Clay. The next chapter will provide a copy of my scored script, along with a discussion of my methodology and terminology.

58 CHAPTER 3

THE SCRIPT

In this chapter I will discuss my acting methodology. I include an explanation of the terminology used in my analysis, a key to abbreviations used in the scored script, and the scored script itself The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section covers methodology and terminology. In the second section I provide a key to the terms and abbreviations used in the scored script. The third section is the scored script itself

3.1 Methodology and Terminology

My approach to acting has always been extremely intuitive. Most ofmy acting training is Stanislavki-based. However, in this role I found that my movement and voice training was much more useful to me. In my process of creating this role, I most often used the techniques from Viewpoints, Mime, Suzuki, and Lessac. Some ofthe analysis came from the Stanislavski method, but due to the fact that this was not a realistic play, most ofthe tools of Stanislavski were oflittle use. My script analysis, therefore, contains little terminology from the Stanislavski method. What follows is a brief description of

the process of creating this role and how it differed from the way I usually prepare a role.

59 Normally when I approach a role, the first thing I do is read the script several times in order to do a character analysis. This is a part of the Stanislavski method we are taught at OSu. The actor looks for what is said about character, what the character says about herself, and the character's actions within the text to find clues. However, that was impossible in this process because there was no script at that time. At the beginning of the process, we were told the story of Camille by Jeanine Thompson. I then started looking for biographies of Camille and reading them during the initial rehearsal period in the spring quarter, continuing throughout the summer. The cast also saw the video of

Thompson's thesis one time early in the rehearsal process. The video was .shot from a distance, but we got to see an idea ofthe style. However, the style changed because the original was a dance theatre piece using dancers, and this was a movement theatre piece with text using actors.

As I stated before, the play was not realistic. It was highly stylized, and that style came from Mime, Viewpoints, and Suzuki. Most ofthe early rehearsals began with a

Decroux mime warm-up. Through this we got the feeling ofthe mime stance and the way we were going to be asked to move. We got a feeling for the style ofthe piece.

Decroux's system begins with the body in a ballet first position and tension in the muscles. Rudolf Laban would refer to this tension in the muscles as bound-flow. All of our work began from this point. Decroux then divides the body into five sections: the head, neck, chest, torso, and pelvis. He goes further in saying that each of these body parts can move in several ways. They can incline, rotate, and transtate. An inclination would involve vertical movement forward, back, right or left. Rotations can only be done to the right or left, and utilize a turning from the spine. Transtations consist of

60 horizontal movements ofthe body parts forward, back, right or left. Warm-ups consisted ofworking on various combinations ofthese movements in order to use the body to create triple designs. Triple design refers to a three dimensional shape made with the body in space. This was one ofthe most important concepts we worked toward. The use oftriple design encourages the actor to think ofherselfas a three-dimensional human being and act with the whole body. Additionally, triple design allows for optimum illumination of surfaces ofthe body, thus creating more interesting and beautiful stage pictures. Not only is the triple design pleasing to the eye, but as pointed out by

Thompson, Camille Claudel used triple design in her sculptures.

Character was added to the triple design. Marcel Marceau is credited with adding the sense of character to the Decroux technique. In the rehearsal process, Thompson started the cast with the abstract Decroux movement and then layered on the specific characters. Thompson was concerned that all ofthe movement be slightly diagonal. By this I mean that she did not want the characters to stand in a perfectly vertical position.

In order to achieve this look, we employed Marceau's risque avant. The risque avant simply refers to a forward transtation ofthe pelvis. This gives the actor a very stylized look, which the cast often took to extremes.

However, it was hard for me to carrythis stylization out ofthe warm-up into the improvisational part ofthe rehearsal process. Thompson guided the cast through many movement improvisations deriving from Viewpoints, which was the other major element used in the initial rehearsal process. In these improvisations, the cast discovered a lot about the way the story might play out on stage and the way characters might interact with one another. We were putting together the language of the performance or the style

61 ofthe performance, as well as the actual performance itself We were learning the style and creating the script at the same time. Improvisation is one ofthe opportunities to allow instinct to take over. The actor tries not to think ahead, but to allow her natural instincts or instincts deriving from knowledge gained in research to lead her actions.

Viewpoints was originated by modem dancer Mary Overlie and further developed by Anne Bogart. Overlie initially used the technique to train actors at New

York University's Experimental Theatre Wing. In Uncommon Clay, our earliest improvisations from the spring quarter were based in Viewpoints training. In Viewpoint improvisation, the actor first assumes a neutral body position with her eyes in a soft focus, not specifically looking at anything, but aware ofher surroundings. This awareness is the most important aspect of Viewpoints.

In Anne Bogart: Viewpoints, Tina Landau describes the elements ofthe technique. There are Viewpoints oftime and space. The Viewpoints oftime include tempo, duration, kinesthetic response, and repetition. Tempo refers to how quickly or slowly things happen. Duration describes how long a movement or a sequence of movement lasts. Kinesthetic response is "a spontaneous reaction to motion which occurs outside you; the timing in which you respond to the external events ofmovement or sound; the impulsive movement which occurs from a stimulation ofthe senses" (21).

Repetition is simply repeating a motion that either another actor has originated or that you have created.

The Viewpoints ofspace include shape, gesture, architecture, spatial relationship, and topography. Shape is "the contour or outline the body (or bodies) make in space"

(21). Movements ofbody parts create gestures. These can beeither behavioral

62 gestures, which typify human behavior, or expressive gestures. Expressive gestures are

more abstract or metaphorical and tend to reveal an emotion or inner state. Architecture

is the physical environment in which one is working and a specific awareness and usage

ofthat environment. In the earliest stages ofrehearsal during the spring quarter, the cast

had several opportunities to share improvisational Viewpoints sessions with the designers that included light and sound. This would be a good example ofusing architecture. We were interested in discovering how the lights and sound effected what the actors did. We

also worked a lot with spatial relationship. This refers to the distance between objects

or people on stage. Topography is "the landscape, the floor pattern, or the design we

create through movement in the space" (23). This was probably the least used aspect of the Viewpoints in our process. Yet, all ofthe terminology from Viewpoints became a

common language in which the cast and director could communicate.

When we reassembled for the fall, I had done a lot of research. I received a

skeletal copy ofthe first draft ofthe script just before classes began for the fall quarter. It

consisted mainly of descriptions ofeach scene, and then the word "text" would be

written. This meant that there were going to be some words there, but Thompson had not decided which words they were going to be or who would speak them. We received

another draft ofthe play with text on the first evening of rehearsal, and subsequent

revisions throughout the rehearsal process.

In this stage ofthe process, we knew what each scene was going to be because we

finally had a script. Thompson gave more specific directions, but we arrived at most of

the movement through improvisation. For example, in the Streets ofParis scene,

Thompson asked the cast to improvise characters that might be found on the streets of

63 Paris around the tum ofthe century. Thompson then arranged the characters' movement patterns to make up the scene. I felt very lost at times because I had difficulty in finding the stylized, almost abstract movement in a character that was so real to me, particularly after all the research I had done.

When Thompson was blocking my scenes, she would give me directions such as,

"take a stick and draw the parameters ofyour home and make the space your own." It was then up to me to think ofbehaviors that might fit with the script that I had been given. For example, in Scene 12, I used a variation ofa Suzuki when I sat in front ofthe fireplace warming my feet and hands. When I opened the .window, I was using a mime illusion technique. I was instinctively blending the techniques that I had learned in movement classes liberally throughout the process. The structure was loose, and I had to discover the actual movements, and those movements came from my training in

Viewpoints, Mime and Suzuki as well as the knowledge ofthe character that I had gained through my research.

The Suzuki work used was somewhat minimal, but, again, there were certain tools that were helpful. Tadashi Suzuki talks about the relationship ofthe feet to the stage. He insists that "the very life ofart depends on the fixing and deepening ofthe relationships ofthe feet to the stage in order to render the expressiveness offoot movements all the more compelling" (7). This relationship ofthe foot to the stage was essential in our work. The cast worked very hard to find the expressiveness in our feet. Suzuki's method also depends heavily on an actor having a strong sense of center. In order to find this strength, we worked for a sense ofpower in our abdominal muscles while still allowing fluidity ofmovement. Thompson's direction included Suzuki's slow ten several times in

64 the rehearsal process as well as in the show itself. The slow ten is an exercise for walking in which the actor works to achieve a smooth continuous movement ofthe foot itself. When one foot arches up to leave the ground, the heel ofthe other foot is in contact with the floor, so that it almost looks like wheels. In the slow ten rise from the ground used in the opening moment ofthe show, the actors again worked for a slow continuous movement from a prone position to a full standing position without touching the floor with their hands for balance. All ofthe balance comes from a controlled center.

It was a combination ofthe tools from each ofthese disciplines that enabled the cast to find different character stances, gestures, and individual moments. Without this vocabulary ofmovement, it would have been more difficult for Thompson to achieve her desired results. Consequently, it was extremely beneficial that we had the extra quarter in the spring to work on the development ofthe show. Part ofthe work in that quarter was a matter offinding a common ground ofmovement.

Throughout this process Thompson often reassigned lines to different people.

However, as I went through the script and learned my lines, I was very familiar with the letters, so I almost always knew to whom the letter was addressed. That person was usually not on stage with me, but because I knew whom Camille was addressing, I was able to make sense ofit. There were times when I was not sure ofthe lines I was going to say until after the movement was set, or the movement would be very abstract having little to do with the lines. For example, there were sections ofthe show in which

Thompson would tell the cast to come up with poses that might happen in an insane asylum. Since I knew the symptoms of paranoia, I found poses that would fit, although they were very abstracted and stylized.

65 Movement came first usually. It was after we were in technical rehearsals that I was able to sit down and figure out what my Stanislavski actions were in each moment. I had been using these actions instinctively all through the process, but did not give them a name until the end. Naming them helped the specificity. However, there were moments that could not be defmed in a Stanislavskian way. For example, in the poses I was just trying to go with the truth of what I was saying, and pray that it made some kind of sense with the movement that I was doing. Because I knew who Camille was, when I threw that away and just did this really abstract movement, the truth of it was there. So, the

Stanislavski method was helpful in the end.

The Stanislavski method was developed primarily as a tool to be used in realistic plays. It involves the idea that all people (and, therefore, all stage characters) are pursuing a goal at all times. The term used for this pursuit ofa goal is objective. It involves always asking oneself, "What does the character want?" Due to the narrative nature ofUncommon Clay, the overall objective or super-objective was to tell the story.

Normally, the super-objective exists within the world ofthe play. However, in this case I was always aware that I was an actor carrying out the task oftelling Camille's story. This idea is even written into the script. For example, in the first scene when the Camilles emerge from the earth, they emerge first as some living organism that is not human.

They then realize that they are "woman." Next they realize that they are individual women. As they come apart in space, each actor is aware of the role she must fulfill in the storytelling. Since my role is perhaps the most difficult period of Camille's life, it is written in the script that I, as the actor, ask the other actors if! have to go through it

66 again. They refuse to play my role for me, and I resign myself to playing it again.

Therefore, the artifice of the theatre is always present. It is inherent in the style.

In my first chapter, I quote Jeanine Thompson speakingof her one-womanshow,

Breaking the Current. Thompson spoke ofthe theme of the playas pertainingto being silenced. I talked with Thompson early in the rehearsal processfor Uncommon Clay,and she spoke of Camille Claudel as "an artist who had a great deal to say as a woman, and through her art, and who was silenced. . . and I see that as universal. I am also interested in how her work prevails throughtime"(Interview with Thompson). In the program notes for Uncommon Clay,Thompsonwrites of her strongdesire to tell the story of this woman who was "silenced by her family." It is clear that the intention of the playwright was simply to tell Camille Claudel's story, to allow Camille's voice to be heard. Therefore, I felt that in the portrayalof Crone Camille I was always aware of simplytelling the story.

In the Stanislavski approach, the characterpursues her objectiveby taking actions. Actions and objectives are grouped into beats. A beat changes wheneverthe action or tactic used to pursue the objective or the objective itself changes. This notion of actions and objectives was useful to me in certain scenes or beats of scenes, but could not be consistently applied throughoutthe entire script.

Another aspect of the Stanislavski approach that I utilized was the idea of an inner monologue and subtext. Basically, this involves thinking as the character instead of as the actor. The actor asks herself, "Whatdoesthe character really mean by what she is saying, and what is the thought process?" In all of the scenes in which I was an observer, I used the notion of inner monologue. I imagined that the scenes that I was

67 watching being performed by the other actors portraying Camille were actually taking place in my head. Each actor portraying Camille was only portraying a certain period of her life, but we were on stage for most ofthe show. Therefore, each actor had scenes in which she was an observer. When the scene was taking place in the period of Camille's life that she portrayed, we referred to her as the "active" Camille. A costume change signified when the active period ofeach Camille's life was over.

There were other factors that affected the acting approach. For example, there were many times during the play when my dialogue was taken from one of Camille

Claudel's letters. However, I was performing a completely abstract physical action that had nothing to do with the actual text. For example, in the asylum scene, there was a point when Young, Maiden, Matron and Crone Camilles were walking in the pose of

Rodin's sculpture of The Burghers ofCalais while speaking text about being institutionalized. In cases such as this, my movement and voice training were much more helpful to me than the Stanislavski method.

Also, there was very little interaction with other characters on the stage. Most of the interaction was done with the audience or people who were not actually in the scene with me. In order to keep this clear, I had to know to whom I was speaking at all times even if they were not technically in the scene with me. For instance, in the home scene there was a line when I was telling a friend about some ofRodin's models breaking into my apartment to steal my work. The character ofthis friend was not in the scene with me, but I was still talking to that person in my own mind. There were many times when it may have looked like I was addressing the audience directly, but as an actor, I knew that Camille was not talking to the audience. She was talking to Paul or her mother or a

68 friend who just was not in the scene at that time. This feeling ofdirect audience address was what gave the play the whole narrative style. In scenes such as this, it was important for me to have the actions clear.

In addition to the movement and acting techniques I use, I have found that the

Lessac system ofvoice training has been an integral part of my performance regimen.

Arthur Lessac began his career as a singer, and his system of voice and speech training approaches the voice from that point ofview. Since I began my career as a singer, I am very comfortable with his methods, and they seem to work well for me. In Lessac's training, the actor is forced to rely on feeling the sounds within her own body. Listening to her own voice to verify that she is performing something "correctly" is discouraged.

The Lessac system is divided into three different vocal energies (NRGs). They are Consonant NRG, Tonal NRG, and Structural NRG. The Consonant NRG involves thinking ofthe consonants as ifthey were instruments in an orchestra. In this manner, the actor is encouraged to fully "play" each consonant sound, with particular attention paid to the consonants that fall at the ends ofwords. Some forms of voice training simply refer to this as articulation, but in the Lessac system it is so much more. It gives the consonants a musicality that is often lacking in other work. Correspondingly, in playing a consonant sound for its musical properties, one is allowing the audience time to hear it as well. This was quite useful in a theatre space the size ofThurber. In fact, all ofthe

NRGs aid in making the text more understandable to the audience. Tonal NRG refers to resonance. By directing the resonance into the hard palate, the sound is enhanced and, therefore, more easily heard by the audience. Structural NRG is the aspect ofLessac work with which most people are familiar. The idea is to create an "inverted megaphone"

69 with the inside ofthe mouth. This requires the actor to allow her jaw to remain relaxed and keep a feeling of space in the back of her mouth. The lips do the work of forming the vowels.

Lessac's concepts of voice production were invaluable to me. I was able to perform night after night without injuring my voice. Moreover, I was heard and understood by the audience. Besides the aesthetic benefits, the feeling ofthe words in my mouth gave me a connection to them, an ownership.

I found that it took all ofthe above-mentioned tools to create the role ofCamille

Claudel, and to live within the style prescribed by the production concept. In the next section I will provide a key to the scored script. The key includes terminology and abbreviations used.

70 3.2 Key to Scoring Tenns and Abbreviations

In the scored script that follows, the script is found in the center column. The playwright's script includes extensive descriptions ofthe movement. Some ofthese actions were abandoned in the course ofthe rehearsal process and did not appear in the show. I have left the script intact, however. I placed the blocking notes in the right column.

Script Notation Terms X-Cross t - Stand US- Upstage + - Sit DS - Downstage + - A little

L -Left +2 - 2 steps

R-Right A= Action

C -Center Obs = Obstacle

FF - Full Front ST= Subtext

Scene Objective = The objective for the entire scene.

Obj = Objective for a specific beat.

Suzuki #1 - Sitting Suzuki statue in which one balances on the ischia.

Coloration - The level of an action is slowly heightened. (Mime term)

Decoloration - The level of an action is slowly lessened. (Mime term)

Toe - A quick impulse of breath that puts a "button" on the beginning or end ofa movement phrase. (Mime term)

71 Although I play Crone Camille in the play, I found it helpful to define the role more specifically. For example, in many ofthe scenes I am not the "active" Camille. I am merely an observer. I found it necessary, therefore, to list the role that I play in each scene in the left column in block capitals and bold text. All acting notes are in the left column. There is a horizontal line dividing the script into acting beats.

In this chapter, I have provided a description of my methodology and terminology. What follows is my scored script. Chapter Four is a copy ofmy journal during the rehearsal and performance process. In it I discuss some of the problems that occurred and how I found ways to overcome them.

72 3.3 SCORED SCRIPT

STORYTELLER! Scene 1: The Artist Emerges Start with all Camilles as a ACTRESS mound on the floor as close to Cast involved in scene: Core Ensemble, Paul, Rodin and Rose the floor as possible under the positioned all aroundperformance area, and All Camille's preset fabric. Inhalation begins the downstage under a cloth resembling earth engagement ofthe pelvis and Set: When the audience enters the theatre, all they can see is the stage the ascent. Be careful that it is a curtain, which is down. smooth gradual ascent with the whole body unfolding Sound: Before the curtain raises, the audience hears humming and simultaneously. An ann might other sound created by the ensemble, who are at various positions be a shoot ofthe vine. around the stage andpossibly in the house. Intertwine with the others. When we reach the peak ofthe Set: The curtain rises, revealing the set. The audience sees a mound of extension, there is another ...... :l W earth downstage center. unison inhalation. This begins the awakening that we are The setting is the primeval Earth, raw and wild. A seed erupts and human beings, Woman, as a blossoms into a strong plant, filled with creativity, with life. Woman collective. Shift to emerges as the Camille's begin to slowly appear through a cloth. They angled/diagonal 3/4 FL pose on reach out, tearing their way from the Soil. Soil will always figure an inhalation, and become prominently throughout her life. Eventually she will return to--dust to individual actors. With another dust-embodied in the smashing ofthe clay sculpture in the final scene. unison inhalation, slowly tum in Tearing will also be a motifthroughout the entire piece. The Camilles to C, and begin weave through become a growing, weaving plant; it is Womanly, the giver and taker of others. End weave surrounding life. She is birthed She is life, creator, storyteller, the weaver ofthe Current Camille. Watch her story they are about to tell. They are multiple selves ofshe-one give the scarf to Young person portrayed by many people at different stages ofher lift. Camille. As Young Camille turns to move away, all tum and Once they emerge from the Earth, they separate. They peel offtheir X Far CL. When all are in their outer laver ofcostume to reveal their individual costumes underneath places, tum in to look. X C to which identify the essential quality that defines Camille at the various ask (non-verbally) Young stages ofher lift. Camille, then all others if I have to perform the role that I am Current Camille takes a scarffrom her costume. This scarfbecomes destined to play. They all Obj: To escape from the fabric that will be shared, passedfrom one Camille to another. It is refuse. X D just right of C playing my role the sinew, the umbilical cord that connects them throughout the telling facing FF. All remove unit A: Ask others to do ofthe story. It has smell, taste, and texture. It holds memories, binding dresses. Kneel, and begin it for me them together, strengthening them. At the same time, it enhances, miming sculpting. hides, and reveals.

Current Camille wipes the faces ofYoung Camille. This awakens her. This too becomes a gestural motif. She then puts it in Young Camille's hair.

All Camille's are standing together. After Young Camille has received ...... +-. the fabric, they move out into the space. They take "their places ", looking at each other in agreement at what must happen next, acknowledging the story that they are about to portray. Some are excited; others are not. They look downstage towards audience, waitingfor something to happen to let them know it's time to begin.

There is a distinct difference between all ofthe Camille's that is revealed in the beginning, through the attitude andphysicality of each-the joy or burden lying within them and the wanting or not wanting to exit, to "do their part ", There is a recognition shared by all ofthem ofthe "roles" they are about to play and the story that they are about to unfold. Some would like to keep it a secret, while others can't wait to play their part again. Perhaps one ofthe Camille's tries to "rescue" another Camille from playing the role they are cast in life to play-perhaps offering to play itfor her. But we must play the hand that fate has dealt us. The only negotiation we have is to stop. CRONE Current Camille: The countryside of Villeneuve was always home CAMILLE to me. The sweet smell of the jasmine and the Obj: To mesmerize meadow grasses welcoming my every stride and the audience with cushioning my every fall. The landscape and the the story river Fere, constantly making its way through the woods, pushing the large grey boulders to its sides, resting, waiting, on its river banks, the most perfect earth, that red, red clay.

Young Camille: Father has agreed to let me go to Paris...

Maiden Camille: I love standing on the riverbank and feeling the red clay oozing between my toes, squishing it in my hands. How could anyone resist rubbing that color, and warmth, and smell all over your body? -...J VI A: To demonstrate All Camilles love (except YC): It is home.

Matron Camille: My passion for sculpting grew out ofthis close connection. All of nature revealed to me its multitude of forms-emotions possess each rock, cloud, tree...

A: To fire them with Crone Camille: I wanted to create my own forms-sculptures, a passion for my art which would capture the breadth of emotion found in nature. The red clay allowed me to do it. It became the driving force of my ever- increasing wonder about my creative possibilities. Young Camille: Everyone thinks I'm obsessed. But father sees-

Maiden Camille: He knew I had a gift when no one else did-

Matron Camille: He did everything to protect and nurture that A: To demonstrate gift-me- remorse Crone Camille: Even to the point ofalienating my little brother-

Young Camille: Paul, I'm sorry

Crone Camille: -and sister.

Current Camille: It tore my mother and I apart ...... :I 0\ A: To enlighten Crone Camille: To be the woman with these ideas-

Young Camille: To be an artist-

Maiden Camille: Was considered disrespectful,

Matron Camille: Improper,

Crone Camille: Insane.

Young Camille: Mother always tells me that it is forbidden to be anything but a wife,

Matron Camille: A mother, A: To demonstrate disdain Crone Camille: A nun.

YoungCamille: I know this. My father knows this. But he's letting me go...

Maiden Camille: With my talent and his finances I can begin...

Young& Maiden Camille: I can sculpt the dream. Freeze. Young Camille becomes distracted by rocks (mimed) that she sees in When Matron Camille reaches the dirt. She looks around at them excitedly. She loves collecting rocks CS, t. Throw mimed piece of and has never before seen rocks that look like these. She sculpture to ground, and exit "inconspicuously" begins picking them up, weaving through the other UR. -...J -...J Camille's. This builds into a run that takes her offstage.

Her exit prompts the other Camilles to leave as well. The movements chosenfor these exits will become personal motifs throughout the show.

Young Camille leaves first, running. Maiden Camille leaves second, walking directly to stage right. Matron Camille leaves third, waltzing off.

Crone Camille leaves fourth. With Crone Camille there is a weight within her, a paranoia and depression, which causes Current Camille to look down at floor, saddenedfor the role into which fate has placed Crone Camille. Atfirst Crone Camille walks confrontingly downstage towards Current Camille as ifto ask why she has to do this again. Then reconciling herselfto do what she must do, Crone Camille gathers the strength ofher "warrior" selfand exits diagonally up right. Sculptor Camille leaves fifth, after observes each to the others exit. With a deep inhalation and exhalation, she expresses a calm sense of resolve andquietjoy. She knows the journey that is about to begin, and she begins her part. She is the builder and keeper ofthe Work-the creator and destroyer ofthe Work. She gathers dirt/clay from the ground; she smells it andplaces it into her apron. She walks towards the edge ofthe platform then up the stairs. She unloads what she has gathered in her apron.

Current Camille leaves last, staring at her chair and walking towards it. About halfway to the chair she stops, andturns to the audience.

Current Camille: Once I was young, I was beautiful.

-..l 00 She elliptically removes the fabric covering her chair, puts on her hat and coat, and sits and remembers and thinks and imagines. At times throughout the play she writes and reads letters.

Sculptor Camille begins her work. She pours water onto her clay, and like a conductor commanding the music to play, she begins kneading the clay. The sound ofher working the clay is what triggers the scene change. This sound becomes interwoven with the sounds oflaughter andjeering, comingfrom offstage, by Young Camille and Paul. Scene 2: Playing in the Mud

Cast involved in scene: Young Camille, Current Camille, Sculptor Camille, Paul

To protect Young Other Camilles enter the stage and take their positions. Enter DR. X DR to Young Camille Camille. Young Camille: I know I can be the best - Paul's just frightened ­ he doesn't want me to go - (running about stage yelling) I am going to Paris-I am going to study with him-

All Camilles (except SC): M. Rodin.

....,J 1.0 Young Camille gives the scar/to Maiden Camille.

Maiden Camille: (to all the Camilles) I can be anything in Paris.

The Camilles fade into their positions, watching, observing, waiting. Exit DR. Scene 3a: The streets and people of Paris

Crone Camille did not appear in this scene.. CRONE Enter DR. Sit DR leaning CAMn,LEI Scene 3b: The Maestro's Studio against proscenium. OBSERVER Cast involved in scene: All Camille's, Rodin, Rose, Core Ensemble as 3 Male Students and 3 Female Students

It is midmorning in Rodin's studio. Students are busy at work. Rose is keeping their clay wet so that it doesn't dry out. Rodin enters with whole body masking. He works with sculptors, magically and majestically twirling as he moves from one to another. The female students unmask him and place the mask, cape and hands upstage. Rodin approaches each ofthe sculptors, seducing them as he goes. His intrigue with Maiden Camille modeling draws him to her. He sees Rose holding a bucket ofwater with a sponge andcrosses to her.

Rodin: My dear Rose, man petite Rose, my work is in your hands. Don't moisten too much; use your finger to check. Tonight I will return to you.

She tries to respond, but he silences her by placing two ofhis fingers on her lips, and ki..sses her on her forehead o00 Rodin: (..')tepping away from Rose) Ah, Mlle. Claudel.

He walks towards Maiden Camille. He places his hand out as Maiden Camille takes it. Rodin exits. Maiden Camille follows, but she stops at edge ofcurtain.

The lights drop down to highlight the paths that each woman has chosen. The ensemble freezes in place.

Maiden Camille: (Facing into a wing or slightly downstage) You could leave.

Rose: I never will. Maiden Camille exits which draws Rose towards her. Rose stops at the first sculping station. She begins to smash the sculpture, but stops her fist above it and water drizzles from a sponge held in her outstretched hand. (Bloodfrom stone, waterfrom rock) During this exchange, all Camilles are looking at Rose. As Rose squeezes sponge, they look away. Crone Camille approaches Rosefrom behind Rose, possibly sensing her but not seeing her, decides to exit quickly stage left.

Core ensemble exits and reenters, shifting the positions ofplatforms.

CRONE Scene 4: Her Style Develops Sitting DR. Pose from Camille's CAMILLEI sculpture, The Gossips with OBSERVER Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Rodin, a Female Model, Core Young Camille and Matron Ensemble as 4 Male Students and4 Female Students Camille. - 00 It is early morning in Rodin's studio. Maiden Camille enters and goes to her station.

Female Model enters, goes to downstage center platform, drops her robe and sits. Maiden Camille is crouching at downstage ofthis platform.

Rodin enters from his ramp. He sees the model, and makes a suggestive gesture towards her. Maiden Camille sees him looking at the model and stands up, as her innocence drops giving her a keener awareness ofthe Work.

Maiden Camille: Good morning, M. Rodin! Core Ensemble: (Rising and standing at attention) Good morning! Good morning!

Rodin: Good Morning.

The students resume working.

Maiden Camille adjusts the model. She is beginning to develop her own style. Rodin puts her back in the position he originally asked her to take.

Maiden Camille readjusts the model. Frustrated, Rodin repositions the model in his pose.

Maiden Camille once again goes to readjust the model. Rodin 00 N interrupts her, frustrated with her interference.

Rodin: I sculpt the flesh. You sculpt the clay.

She pulls out ofhis grasp andplayfully repositions the model. With a sigh ofexasperation, Rodin lets her be as he begins critiquing his students' work.

Rodin goes over to watch from over Maiden Camille's shoulder. He As the Ensemble melts, X U to begins to see what she is trying to do with the model. The two ofthem look at Maiden Camille. freeze as the Core ensemble melts into the earth.

CRONE Scene 5: Quivers and Caresses X DL sit on floor next to Dean. CAMILLE/ Facing FF. OBSERVER Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Rodin, Paul, Core Ensemble as 4 Men and 4 Women, still melted into the earthfrom the previous scene) Lights: The lights fade slowly down to focus on Rodin and Maiden Camille.

It is early evening. Maiden Camille has stayed late. Her sexual innocence drops to an awareness ofher sensuality. Paul enters and stands beside Current Camille.

Rodin disrobes Maiden Camille, molding her, caressing her body. He begins wrapping her in fabric.

This is a scene ofseduction, ofgiving and taking ofsensual delights, of teasing and wanting, of touching, offlesh on flesh. The audience witnesses them dropping their physical and emotional barriers. 00 w Once Rodin has completely wrapped Maiden Camille, they freeze.

Paul: (to Current Camille) And then the cataclysm of the family occurred.

Paul exits as the ensemble slowly emergesfrom the earth transforming I After Paul exits, rise. into the sculptures. SCULPTUREI Scene 6: Rose speaks out Pose from Rodin's sculpture on OBSERVER the top of The Gates ofHell. Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Rose, Rodin, Core Ensemble as 8 DL with Dean and Laurel. sculptures

It is late evening in Rodin's studio. Camille and Rodin are probably asleep together. In this scene, the audience is exposed to the dark mind ofRose's depression. Rose enters downstage right. She is carrying a bucket ofwater with a sponge. She weaves her way through the studio doing her neverending job ofkeeping the clay wet. She speaks aloud her memories of modelingfor Rodin, how things were, and how enraged she is with the way things are now.

Rose: (entering laughing) I was 18 when I met M. Rodin. He called me his "wild flower", his "petite rose". Oh, how Auguste used to write to me. And how angry he was when I did not write back. This was me. I was so pretty. I raised my hand and swore that I would follow him to the end of the world and the end of life, and that I would serve him in all things. I realize that I ~ gave him something that no one can live without-my soul, my young vibrant soul. I have nothing left within me. I did not like his art before I met him and I like it still less now. I hate the Artist, in him most of all. And he never understood that she only loved her art. She loved her art the way that I loved him. We had all this beauty and we let it go. Dead. Dead. Just as I am. We two corpses playing together. We were so pretty, weren't we?

After Rose exits the Core Ensemble exits in all directions. Rodin exits stage right. CRONE Scene 7: Camille Matures After the ensemble clears the CAMILLE Cast involved in scene: All Camilles stage, X on sound cue CR to Maiden Camille. Young fLights: The lights shift to illuminate the figures as shadows. I Camille begins to unwrap the fabric. After she drops the fabric, I begin taking it off of This scene, like Scene I, is outside oftime. It is a transformative Maiden Camille. She steps out metaphor. of it. I take fabric, back up two or three steps holding fabric as if otTering it to Maiden Camille. All Camilles (except Current and Sculptor) approach Maiden Camille Young Camille runs and takes who is wrapped in fabric and standing on her platform. The Camilles the fabric from me. XL +2. As begin to ritualistically unravel her and dress her in a slip. This should Matron begins to move C, I get be similar to witnessing a butterfly emergingfrom its cocoon. slip and help Maiden Camille into it. After Maiden Camille 00 VI Matron Camille takes the sharedfabric and begins humming and steps off of the platform, X DR. waltzing alone. She is beginning to share in the post-orgasmic high of the Maiden Camille. This sexual, sensual energy continues to build as the other Camilles giggle, watching her sexuality explode outward They dance and share and laugh. Maiden Camille spins Matron Camille and looks at her. Matron Camille touches her own face, using the fabric to trace the outline ofher mature body. Knowing the sensual joy that the two ofthem will share with Rodin, she laughingly rubs her face in Maiden Camille's hands.

Matron Camille crosses to the foot ofRodin's ramp. Maiden Camille teasingly encourages her to go up the ramp to Rodin's room. Matron Camille hesitates. She gives the Camille's a nod to exit. They look away, giggling. Matron Camille hesitates at bottom oframp, then, as a young woman with the first impassioned blush oflove, she runs up the platform to Rodin's room.

Sound moves into something suggestive offire, firing, kiln, etc.

SCULPTUREI Scene 8: Her Artistry Emerges On sound cue, unison inhalation OBSERVER with Young and Maiden. X DC. Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Rodin, Rose and Core Ensemble Pose in Camille's sculpture of as statues The Beseecher, withoutthe arms being held up. This scene occurs in the middle ofthe night. The air has a crispness as the stage is illuminated by moonlight andperhaps some light spilling from Rodin's room. A storm approaches.

00 o- The ensemble reenters from all points; they move platforms as needed They take positions as finished andpartiallyfinished works of Camille's. Rose, Young Camille, Maiden Camille and Crone Camille are statues as well.

The studio has become her studio, her work area within Rodin's studio.

Reminiscent ofYoung Camille's running down to the river bank, Matron Camille runs down the ramp eagerly wanting to continue her work in the middle ofthe night with renewed inspirationfrom the heat/energy oflove's embrace.

She is partially clothed, possibly in a cock-eyed nightdress or perhaps one ofRodin's shirts. She feverishly works at putting the finishing touches on some ofher works, and doing major molding on others. She knows there is a deadline QUickly approaching. Rodin, awakened by the storm, enters from the ramp. Matron Camille is working on a statue down stage left. Rodin does not see her or ignores seeing her. He can't resist adjusting one ofher works. Matron Camille immediately notices him changing her sculpture, confronts him and changes it back.

Rodin is impressed with her artistic insight, however, is a bit thrown by her independence. He is overwhelmed by the wealth ofwork that she has pulled together for her first exhibition. His enthusiasm is mixed with the jealously and the fear that his time is passing. Rodin exits slowly up the ramp, perhaps into darkness, as Matron Camille continues working, not noticing the tension building between them. "The turning ofthe screw, " the building storm between them changes Rodin's attitude towards her. Everything is about to change 00 -..,J forever. In her passion for the Work, she is oblivious to this.

The last image is Matron Camille continuing to work through the night, ignoring the storm that is approaching.

Matron Camille exits.

The Core Ensemble reconfigures the space as Young Camille, Maiden Camille, Crone Camille and Rose shift to become finished statues in the next scene.

SCULPTUREI Scene 9: The Exhibition During transition, XU + kneel OBSERVER on crate in Beseecher pose. Cast involved in scene: All Camille's, Rodin, Paul, Rose, Core Facing the R proscenium. Ensemble as members ofsociety and 3 Critics jLight: Perhaps the light is golden and contained. I

It is early evening at a gallery in Paris where Camille's work is being shown publiclyfor the first time.

Current Camille wanders through the exhibit before the public arrives. She looks at each ofthe statues, lingering at the statue ofRose. She returns to her seat.

The members ofsociety are masked. They can reveal differences in individuals by the ways that some can remove their social mask when they want to, or not be able to, or perhaps their maskfalls off. They speak the following lines to each other and to imagined guests. 00 00 Good evening. Have you visited this gallery before? Afemale sculptor. Have you seen any ofClaudel's work before? Rodin's protoge. How are you? So good to see you again.

Rodin and Matron Camille enter informal attire with masks. He is perhaps coaching and encouraging her, to do her best infront of society and the critics. She is nervous and wants the critics' support, all the while discounting them at the same time.

This scene will be very stylizedphysically tofocus on individual responses to her work rangingfrom dislike, to thinking it is the best work ever, to reminding them ofa memory buried deep inside themselves.

Ofthe three critics, only one supports her and appreciates her work. They all stand on small ladders ofvarying heights, higher than the sculptures perhaps. The ladders can be manually raised higher as they try to outdo each other with their persuasiveness. The members ofsociety mill about. The text should appear to emerge from the general conversation, highlighting some phrases and downplaying others. The general conversation should build into

something ofa clamor with people talking over each other, across the room, etc.

Matron Camille: (defiantly to Rodin) M. Rodin, I don't 00 \0 understand a thing about theoretical questions in matters concerning Art.

Paul: Sculpture expresses the need to touch. The almost maternal joy ofpossessing the plastic art between his hands, the art ofmodeling, like the other arts, withdraws into that solitary room where the poet shelters his forbidden dreams. Camille Claudel is the first practitioner ofthis interior sculpture.

Male Socialite 1: A revolt against nature: a woman ofgenius!

Female Critic (P): What strikes one in the work ofCamille Claudel is its incompleteness. Perhaps this is what makes it so moving-like a ghost ofa beautiful gesture, a feeling prematurely broken off. All of her art is stamped with this quality of absence which must have been a profoundly embedded characteristic of her soul.

Male Critic 1 (N): (overlapping at "characteristic of") There are no women of genius; the women of genius are men.

On the words "genius ofmen ", everyone looks at Rodin.

Matron Camille: My passion for sculpting grew out of this close connection. All of nature revealed to me its multitude of forms-emotions possess each rock, cloud, tree... o\0 Male Critic 2 (N): (overlapping at "its multitude '') There are a limited number ofWorks--a narrow field of vision for criticism-which renders analysis and aesthetic commentary so difficult. From the Young Roman to Maturity one can follow the progress of an earned autonomy, of an organized thought process, but the masterpiece of maturity is missing-that which once originality has been established, allows one to find retroactively the precursing signs.

Rodin: (to a male socialite and overlapping at "retroactively'') I showed her where she would fmd gold, but the gold she finds truly belongs to her. Male Socialite 1: She works independent ofthe clamor that may arise around her, she thinks only about sculpture. She goes on! She belongs to the race of heroes!

Male Critic 2 (N): (overlapping at "she goes on") Where's the gentleness?!

Male Critic 1 (N): The savagery of her work obviously comes from her rustic origin.

Male Socialite 1: That a woman can sculpt like a man!

Female Socialite: And in such a nonanecdotal fashion!

\0 Male Socialite 2 : I like women that are fat and vicious; their - intelligence annoys me.

Male Socialite 1: The talent ofCamille Claudel is one ofthe glories at the same time that it is one of the shames of our country.

Male Socialite 2: Female artists are like a dog walking his hind legs-you are surprised to find it done at all.

Male Critic 1 (N): Would any link at all be missing in the chain of art and science if woman, if the works of women were missing? Admitting exceptions-s-they prove the rule--woman attains perfection in everything that is not a work: in letters, in memoirs, even in the most delicate handiwork, in short in everything that is not a metier- precisely because in these things she perfects herself, because she here obeys the only artistic impulse she ha-she wants to please.

Female Socialite: A ray of geniality, a mental atmosphere which resembles it.

Camille Claudel is the most considerable woman artist at the present hour.

Female Critic (P): (overlapping at "artist") A brilliant sculptor. The moment has arrived in which we willieam to appreciate this work in which the nobility of has been brought alive by a totally '-0 tv modem spirit and will not hesitate to salute Camille Claudel as the veritable sculptor of our time.

Male Critic 2 (N): I absolutely deny the existence of women geniuses.

Paul has been here staying in the background. He is greatly disturbed by what is happening and how the exhibition is turning into a nightmarish scene from a circus. Yet he is also deeply moved by the beautiful work created by his sister. Perhaps at times he appears to be lost in his own world.

Paul: Unobservant critics have frequently compared Camille Claudel's art to that ofa sculptor I shall not name. Everyone looks at Rodin.

As a matter of fact, a more complete and flagrant antithesis is unthinkable: the art ofthat sculptor is the heaviest, the most material there is; indeed, certain of his figures cannot release themselves from the clay in which they are enmeshed. When they do not crawl, embracing the mud in a kind oferotic frenzy, it seems as ifeach ofthese embracing bodies is trying to return to the primal lump. In short, peasant work.

Matron Camille: (defiantly to everyone) I don't understand a thing about theoretical questions in matters concerning Art. '-D w Female Critic (P): These are perfect works by a dexterous and professional hand. They appear effortless and have none ofthe heaviness ofabandoned drafts.

Male Critic 1 (N): But, but, but, but the excessive modeling, and the romantic passion.

Male Critic 2 (N): Her domain is not the sun but the shadows inside the house. Just as there is chamber music, there is chamber sculpture.

Paul: (crossing to Matron Camille and speaking to her) After all, the body knows just as much as the soul. The details of the anatomy are worth those of psvchoanalvsis. An infinite mass behind that of shapes and movement, passion and ideas, provokes this instantaneous shock.

When Paul concludes his text, he grabs Matron Camille by the shoulders and attempts to drag her out ofthe "madhouse". Matron Camille resists. The critics and members ofsociety repeat themselves,

The excessive modeling. Chamber sculpture. These are perfect works. I absolutely deny the existence of women gemuses. A brilliant sculptor. \0 ~ The most considerable woman artist. She wants to please. Where's the gentleness. She belongs to a race of heroes. There are a limited number of works. A narrow field of vision.

building a stronger and stronger clamorous assault on the ears. At the peak ofthe critics' challenge. Rodin silences everyone from downstage right. As Rodin speaks, Paul and Matron Camille cease struggling at the edge ofthe curtain. Everyone stops to listen to Rodin.

Rodin: I showed her where she would find gold, but the gold she finds truly belongs to her. Earth crumbles from his hand He crosses to his ramp and goes up to the landing.

Paul touches Matron Camille's arm. She looks to him, looks back to Rodin, looks to Paul again and slowly backs up back into the studio. Paul, in disbeliefofhis sister's choice, leaves.

The Core Ensemble exits and the sculptures melt away. Melt to ground facing US as ensemble exits. After Matron Rodin and Matron Camille look at each otherfrom across the studio, Camille and Rodin exit, t and run to each other and embrace. He picks her up and twirls her and he X UL... under Sculptor takes her up his ramp. Matron Camille looks back towards her work, Camille's platform with Young gently reaching towards it, as iffor now andforever she will always be Maiden. connected to it, no matter what.

\01 I I I VI CRONE Sitting under platform UL. CAMILLEI Scene 10: Waltz of the Flesh OBSERVER Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Rodin, Paul

It is late evening. This is a split scene. Matron Camille and Rodin are in Rodin's bedroom. Paul is in a church, delivering a sermon.

Rodin and Matron Camille enter. Her arms are around his neck, being dragged onto stage from behind him. Paul enters simultaneously, dragging an oversized ladder. They pause at center stage where she lets go and crumples to the ground. Matron Camille looks to Paul who is kneeling before the ladder, then back to Rodin.

Matron Camille: M. Rodin. Rodin: Mlle. Claudel.

Paul: God is the perfect Being, in whom all potency is act. He is inaccessible to our sense, and we can assert of him only that He is and what He is not. How do we recognize a living creature that we cannot see? By the movement to which he gives rise. The mole beneath the earth, the hare in the hedge, the heart beneath our fingers. But we see that the whole universe is never still for a moment. In this world everything is movement---everything bears witness to the holy commotion ofall living creatures, for they are always in a state ofcreation; they cannot exist by themselves; nor can they subsist in the presence -o 0\ of the motionless Creator. Our faith allows us to penetrate further into the mystery of divine physiology, and to distinguish within it three relations--functions, roles, persons: the Father, who engenders; the Son, or the Word or Reason, who by the fact of his existence tells the Father that He Is; the Spirit, or Emanation or Love, which flows out equally from the one to the other and vice versa, and is the Breath exhaled and inhaled. And is the Breath that is exhaled and that is inhaled. And is the Breath that is inhaled and that is exhaled. God, being all- powerful, has created only those things which are good.

Lightsfadefor all ofthem to exit. CRONE In transition, X DR. Sit leaning CAMILLEI Scene 11a: Severed against proscenium. OBSERVER Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Rodin, Core Ensemble as Rodin's Lovers sculpture and Camille's Lovers sculpture and as 3 children

It is early morning in Rodin's studio where he and Matron Camille are working.

Camilles are hovering in this scene as witnesses. Two couples are posed as sculptures-one as Camille's Lovers, the other as Rodin's Lovers. This scene is Camille's first nightmare, her silent scream.

Rodin and Matron Camille are molding sculptures. The differences \0 -..,J between the sculptures are obvious. Rodin's personalfrustrations are growing rapidly.

Three children run infrom ramp, playing in the studio. Matron Camille loves it, Rodin is only distracted and irritated by it. He is plagued by the memories and the disappointments surrounding his retarded son, his "obligation" with Rose, which forced him into a trapped situation. He is not able to take any pleasure in his children with Camille.

He orders the children to leave the studio. They hide, pretending to be statues; they want to play. Eventually they are scared and hurt by his anger and run back up the ramp. Perhaps Rodin threatens them with a sculpting tool.

Furious, Matron Camille runs up ramp after them. Rodinfrustrated by this, his past, his work, begins throwing things. kicking things, etc.

Matron Camille reappears at the top to the ramp. She is wearing a large robe with poles in the sleeves that extend the robe well beyond her. She opens her robe revealing the children huddling inside. Yellow ribbons are attached to their backs and attached to Matron Camille's waist.

Rose steps on stage from the wing beside Rodin and hands him the oversized scissors.

The terrified children run down the ramp to their exits, they stopjust \0 00 offstage in the wings.

Rodin holds up the oversized scissors and cuts the air. The startling sound ofgiant scissors is heard.

CRONE The yellow ribbons detach from the children andflutter to the ground After Matron Camille collapses CAMILLE while still remaining connected to Matron Camille. to ground, X L to Rodin. Slap Obj: Take control Rodin. A: Destroy Rodin Matron Camille releases a voiced silent scream, then collapses where ST: You bastard. she was standing on the ramp. Young and Maiden Camille rush to You will not get comfort her. away with this ever again. Crone Camille walks over to Rodin; she looks at him and slaps him. Rodin looks at Crone Camille, then Rose, then Crone Camille. He faces out. Rose exits. Rodin makes his choice andfollows Rose out.

Young and Maiden Camille quickly pull in a ribbon apiece. Crone Camille slowly gathers in the third. Each wraps or tucks the ribbons somewhere on her person, making the ribbons a permanent part ofher costume. Matron Camille remains on the platform silently crying, cursing and sobbing.

Standing on the edge ofher platform, pained by what has happened, what always happens at this point ofthe telling oftheir story, Sculptor

Camille drops her tools. She returns to her clay working violently, knowing what lies ahead.

\0 \0 Current Camille is softly crying.

Scene 11b: The Crone Awakens Speak line after Rodin has exited, and Young and Maiden Cast involved in scene: All Camilles Camilles have crossed to Matron. Crone Camille crosses to Current Camille. She places her hand on her shoulder, perhaps fixing her hat. Current Camille is subconsciously comforted by this.

Crone Camille crossing through space looks at the chaos ofthe stage, looks at each ofthe Camille's. She crosses to center stage. Obj: Regain myself A: Declare ICrone Camille: (Facing the audience) It is over. M. Rodin has independence made His choice. And I have made mine. Current Camille: It's coming. It's starting. I can't hear the others. Gather ribbon from DL and begin to roll it up while X DR Obj: Do my duty Matron Camille responds with the waterfall from mouth gesture, nods to Matron Camille. Hand the A: Comfort Matron yes. ribbon to Young Camille. Take by taking her place. the scarf from Matron Camille. Crone Camille dresses herselfmaking her own transformation without Back down the ramp to end. help from the other Camilles. Slow Suzuki tum to face FF. Place the scarf around my neck. Do the wininz face gesture. Scene Objective: Scene 12: Home Survey the space. X Land Prove that I am an move blocks offstage. X Rand artist separate from Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Paul, Rodin, Louise, Core remove blocks from stage. Take Rodin Ensemble as friends ofCamille broom from stagehand in 2nd wing R. X R of UC. Pound _ Obj: Carve out a It is evening at Camille's apartment on the Ile St. Louis in the river broom handle on floor. Draw 81 space for myself Seine square delineating my "home" A: Move everything with the broom. End just R of of Rodin's out of the Crone Camille turns around, surveys space and goes about changing Uc. X DR+ to place broom on space it, making it her own. She puts aside everything that belongs to Rodin ground signifying the fireplace. and establishes herselfin a small area, downstage right. Once the Back U +2 steps. Look L, look space is transformed, she uses a large broom to sweep the R. X DC. Mime closing and circumference ofher area, her home. It is small, crowded; her tempo locking window. X DR. Mime has changed, more sporadic. Her paranoia and depression is growing. closing and locking door.

Paul enters and watches her set up her space. He blends into the Obj: Protect myself scenery, until he speaks. A: Lock everyone out As Crone Camille is setting up her space, all other Camilles enter the playing area to tell the story ofher living conditions. Pacing wringing hands. Current Camille: It's been terribly cold lately on the Ile St. Louis in the river Seine. Obj: To persuade the audience that my Ensemble enters slowly, confining Crone Camille and constricting her sculpture is not like space. Rodin's X DC to begin sculpting. A: Show them the Crone Camille: You see it's no longer at all like Rodin. sculpture ST: What is Current Camille: Once I was young, I was beautiful. Back US +. happening to me? Male 1: Her powdered face was animated only by her eyes and mouth. Sometimes, it looked dead ...... o Crone Camille: (echoing) Dead.

Young Camille: (echoing) Dead.

Maiden Camille: (echoing) Dead.

Current Camille: (echoing) Dead. Obj: To win the audience's sympathy Crone Camille: I'm always sick with the poison that's in my blood, my body is burnt from it. X UR towards door, facing 3/4 L.

Male 2: One morning when I went to her to pose, Camille said to me,

Crone Camille: This night, two individuals tried to force open XC my shutters. I recognized them: they are two of Rodin's

Maiden Camille: Italian models.

Crone Camille: He ordered them to kill me.

Male 2: The persecution complex that slowly and cruelly XR+ was undermining her reason had made alarming progress over that night.

Crone Camille: Once I was

Crone and o -IV Young Camille: young;

Crone Camille: I was

Crone and Maiden Camille: beautiful.

Paul: In Paris, Camille mad, huge and looking filthy, speaks incessantly in a monotonous and metallic voice. X DR+ to edge of fireplace. Crone Camille: I was in such a fury that I took all my wax Pick up mimed sculptures from models and threw them into the fire, floor and throw them into the fire. Sit FF warming feet and hands in front of fire. Modified Young Camille: they made a huge blaze and I warmed my feet by Suzuki sitting pose #1. the light of the fire.

Maiden Camille: That's what I do when something unpleasant happens to me, Crone Camille: I take my hammer and crush a figure.

Male 3: Each summer Camille would systematically destroy with hammer blows all her work of that year. Both her studios offered up a pathetic spectacle ofruin and devastation. Then, she Begin picking up pieces of would send for a carter to whom she gave the job broken sculpture. of burying, somewhere in the fortifications, that shapeless and miserable debris. After which, she ...... stuck keys under the mat and disappeared for o w long months at a time without leaving an Flat body roll US+ address.

Crone Camille: (echoing) Disappeared.

Young Camille: (echoing) Disappeared.

Maiden Camille: (echoing) Disappeared.

Current Camille: (echoing) Disappeared. Sitting up FF Crone Camille: Each time I put a new model into circulation, millions roll for the founders, the caster, the artists and the merchants

Current Camille: and forme a"" 4(L". .. ._h~

Current and Crone Camille: zero plus zero equals zero.

Ensemble arrives, enclosing Crone Camille. Obj: To soothe Rodin: I am sure ofher success in the end although that See cat DR. Crawl DR+. myself poor artist will be sad, sadder still, knowing how Petting cat. A: Pet cat life is, regretting and weeping, perhaps having arrived too late, a victim ofher pride as an artist who works honestly, regretting the loss ofher strength in this battle and for this glory come too late that brings in its place illness.

Ensemble begins retreating. .... ~ Crone Camille: (to other Camilles) Above all, Speaking to cat. Young Camille: (echoing) Above all,

Crone Camille: don't

Current Camille: (echoing) don't

Crone Camille: deceive me

Maiden Camille: (echoing) deceive me

Crone Camille: any more. Male 2: When she does manage to get a bit ofmoney, Lying on ground. Roll US+ she invites a whole mob of strange people, and they drink all night laughing like children. Laugh. Young Camille: Laughing. Sit up. Female 1: Isn't that a sign that a little help, happiness, friendship might have, who knows, still saved her? See imaginary sculpture to R of Maiden Camille: Last year, my neighbor broke into my apartment fireplace. with a passkey. Against the wall there was a woman in yellow. X R to get sculpture.

Obj: To demonstrate Crone Camille: Since then he's made several women in yellow, o -Vl that there is a the same size exactly as mine which he has conspiracy against shown since; they are all making women in me yellow and when I will want to show mine, they A: Destroy the will take sides against me and forbid me to. Throw sculpture into fireplace. sculpture Kneel reaching toward fire. ST: They steal my Paul: This young nude girl is my sister! My sister Pick up the pieces ofthe work and make Camille, imploring, humiliated, on her knees; sculpture. money from it. If I this superb, this proud young woman had destroy it, they can't depicted herself in this fashion! steal it. It is still Sit up facing FF. Slowly mme. Current Camille: Another time, a cleaning woman put a narcotic rocking back and forth. in my coffee which made me sleep for twelve solid hours. During that time, the woman went inside my dressing room and took The Woman with the Cross. Crone Camille: Result, three figures of Woman with the Cross.

Obj: To repair the Louise: At home, my daughter lives like a destitute Quick move DS on knees. damage person; she hasn't seen a single soul. She is A: Pick up the robbed by everyone who sells food to her. The Quick look to window, then pieces doors and windows are chained, padlocked, and door. whatever she eats is put in a packing case on the top of one ofthe windows. As for her person and her apartment, it is something horrible. She Picking up pieces. spends her time writing letters to good-for­ nothings and making denunciations. In short, she has all the vices. I don't want to see her again; Begin slow descent to a position ST: She hates me. she has done too much harm. lying on ground with hands shielding head. Louise exits with a dramatic tempo change. o - 0'\

ST: They are all Young Camille: To let me end my career Rocking back and forth while against me. lying on ground. Maiden Camille: atthe mercy of my family,what gall!

Young Camille: I live in a world that is so curious,

Maiden Camille: so strange.

Matron Camille: Of the dream which was my life,

Current Camille: this is

All Camilles (except SC): the nightmare. Freeze after "the nightmare" for Paul's line. The pose is with feet Paul: My sister! What a tragic existence! At thirty and head suspended off the years, when she realized that Rodin would not ground. marry her, everything collapsed around her and Quick reach back towards him Obj: To get help her reason could not resist. without turning face US. Slow A: Reach movement of arm back toward Crone Camille: Above all, don't deceive me any more. front in cradling position. Freeze with feet and head Young, Maiden and Matron Camille's withdraw back into the space suspended as before. leaving Crone Camille lying onj/oor unable to move.

Scene Objective: To Scene 13a: The Capture During transition, shift to preserve my kneeling position in front of freedom Cast involved in scene: All Cam illes, Paul. 2 Guards fireplace picking up pieces of Obs: The guards sculpture and looking at them in o - -...J outnumber me and ILightS: The light isolates her home. I the light. are more powerful than I am. It is eleven 0 'clock in the morning, Monday March JO. This is another split scene. Crone Camille is in her apartment, working. Paul is in his A: To find the home, writing to a friend. perfect pieces to keep in my Paul starts this scene with his text. He is "conducting" the action ofthe collection. scene from his ladder.

Paul: Dear Friend, Thank you for your sympathy. No, my poor father did not confess before he died. It makes me full of remorse. Had I come earlier, perhaps I could have persuaded him to do his duty, as he manifestly intended to have done. I hope that God will have him given credit for this good impulse, but I remain in the most terrible uncertainty about his final destiny.

The two "guards" enter and Paul hands them a straightjacket. They Sense the guards enter. Sit up sweep in, around and under Paul's ladder, marching towards Crone straight very slowly facing FF. Camille. It is difficult to endure the thought of Hell, when one is face to face with it, and one's own father's fate is in question. Yet these mysteries are very near to us; how little separates us from death, Begin slow rise to standing. and from that moment of terrible hesitation when Tum to look over right the heart stops and the soul takes its departure! shoulder. Run R+. X UC+. X My mother has returned to her traditional faith. DC to window try to open. Guards grab me. Throw them ..... off. Grab hammer from floor. X o 00 A: Run U to Mark to hit him. He takes hammer. Guards grab me from behind by the arms. Escape backing DC. Bang into imaginary wall. Fall to floor. A: Fight Guards pick me up under the arms and drag me UL. They flip me over and stand me up and put on straight jacket. A: Pull away As for my sister Camille, I have just taken her into a nursing home. So you see that I have been having a bad time.

Obs: I am Yes, the manuscript arrived safely. unconscious and can no longer fight. Thank you again. I grasp your hand, P. Claudel. Crone Camille tries to get out ofher home but is thrown back into apartment. She can't escape. She tries to fight her way out with tool that she grabs from the floor. They attempt to put her into a straight jacket but she escapes. In herfrantic rush, she hits her head against wall andfalls to ground.

The guards drag her out upstage left; she isfacing the ground. The guards flip her over andput the straightjacket on her. They exit, dragging her off upstage right.

Paul crosses diagonally through the stage to downstage right exiting by the time Crone Camille is carried all the way across the back.

o -I.() Scene Objective: To Scene 13b: Torn X +2 steps R. Stop. X +2 steps break out R. Stop. X C. Stop at entrance Obs: There is no Cast involved in scene: All Cam illes, Paul, Rodin, 2 Guards, Core to cell UC. Guards push me into way out Ensemble as the walls ofCamille 's cell cell. Turn US at sound of doors closing. X L to try to get out. X A: Try every route The Core Ensemble, Rodin and Paul take the shape ofcell walls, center R to try to get out. X DC begin of escape stage. They form a very tight, confined cell. banging head on wall.

The guards march Crone Camille in from stage left, through three sets oflocked doors (mimed), she is exhausted, perhaps sedated.

Once she is put in her cell, created by the Core Ensemble, she tries to pound on the walls, silently screaming to be let out. The Core Ensemble (the walls) begin to whisper, then they press in towards her, After the ensemble pulls out and take hold ofthe ribbons. They pull out the ribbons ofthe jacket by ribbons and guards rip off the running into the wings. They hold the ribbons tautfor image to imprint arms ofthe straight jacket, fall \".

in audience 's mind The guards tear offarms ofthe jacket. They to knees on ground. quickly drop to the floor behind her.

Crone Camille is left as a bleeding stump, her art and life as she knew it will forever be severedfrom her.

There is a blackout. The guards exit, taking the sleeves with them. After the guards exit, other Camilles come in to help me remove straight jacket and outer dress. Scene Objective: To Scene 14: The Asylum As lights shift, kneel DRC overcome the facing 3/4 L. When Young insanity around me Cast involved in the scene: All Camilles; Louise, Paul, Rodin (Doctor), Camille gets 1/2 way down the Rose (Nurse) and Core Ensemble as patients in asylum ramp is cue for 18t freeze. I give Obs: Everyone vocal cue for all freezes in this -- o believes I am insane. Light: Lights create a nightmarish effect. section except freeze 3. Pose is These people scare a modified Suzuki #1 facing me. Sound: A collage ofmany sources contributes to this nightmare UR. X DC. After Rodin falls to quality. Thejingle ofkeys is a primary concept. ground cue 2nd freeze. Pose is A: Put my hands and backed up against the back wall feet up in defense This scene covers many different times ofday over the years when ofthe set. X DL. Sarah cues the Camille was institutionalized. The Core Ensemble, Paul. Rose. Rodin 3rd freeze. Pose is kneeling FF A: Runaway and Louise are all fellow inmates within the asylum. At various times with hands covering ears. X C they will emerge as themselves and other characters we have seen in as if being thrown into cell. 4th A: Cover my ears so the play. only to settle back as fellow inmates. freeze is reaching DL. 5th freeze I can't hear them is kneelin& with head on This scene will include life activity in an asylum. Camille's day-to-day ground.6 freeze is reaching A: Beg to be let out activity such as unboxing the supplies sent by her mother. assaults, kneeling with both hands nightmares, dreams, debilitating paranoia, obsession and depression. outstretched DL. A: Cry A: Plead with God The scene starts in real time. then slows down. to help me

A: Blame Rodin Crone Camille: At this moment, M. Rodin has persuaded my Slow coloration out ofthe relatives to have me freeze into the dialogue.

All Camilles (except SC): locked up.

A: Convince them Crone Camille: They are all in Paris because ofthat. The that Rodin is a scoundrel will then, as a result ofthis suit, take monster possession of my life's work All ofthat actually comes straight out of Rodin's diabolical brain.

Current Camille: I came here earlier today. I came by car. I was - taken through the window. It's a capture.

A: See Paul Paul: One had to intervene. Notice Paul.

Male Inmate 1: An incarceration ofa very subtle sort has just taken place in Paris.

Louise: A mother

Paul: and brother

Male Inmate 1: have managed to sequester Mlle. Claudel, an artist ofgreat talent.

Louis (MIl) rises, is lifted by the ensemble, carried upstage right and flipped over.

Female Inmate 2: The poor daughter had just barely and by chance As ensemble moves L, counter learned ofthe inopportune death ofher father, R+. As ensemble moves R, counter L+. Young Camille: who loved her dearly

Maiden Camille: and whose death had been hidden from her.

Paul: My father did not confess before he died.

Male Inmate 2: The day after the news

A: To grieve Male Inmate 3: and while she was overwhelmed

- N Crone Camille: (echoing) overwhelmed Sitting C facing 3/4 R. Female Inmate 2: and stricken with grief,

Crone Camille: (echoing) grief

A: To protest Male Inmate 4: two strong fellows broke into her room around f as Rodin and Rose become eleven o'clock in the morning, guards. Rose hits me US. Rodin pushes me to the ground. This Male Inmate I: grabbed her and, all happens in very slow motion. Male Inmate 4: despite her protestations

Male Inmate I: took her away

Core Ensemble: to an asylum. Female Inmate 3: A little later, the internment was converted into On ground. Sit up facing sequestration. That's how one gets rid of a ensemble which is UR. healthy mind in society.

A: To shame Crone Camille: I don't know if you mean to have me here, but it Slow tum out to face audience. is very cruel for me! Don't leave me here all alone. Facing US. Louise: At no cost do I want to remove her from your establishment where she was content not too A: To beg long ago. I will not have her changing establishments every six months and as far as taking her back with me or sending her back -- w home like she was, never, never. I am 75 years A: To deny old, I cannot take care of a daughter who has the most absurd ideas, who wished us ill, who hates us and is ready to do us all the evil she can. If one has to pay an additional fee for her board so that she will be more comfortable, I don't ask for anything better, but keep her, I beg you.

Current Camille: Dear Mother, I received your wonderful package CS tum to face FF. today. It arrived in good shape; all the things are excellent. I am always well fed despite being so faraway.

Ensemble forms a machine around Crone Camille, packing and unpacking boxes. A: To charm Crone Camille: You ask me what I need in my next package. The fabric begins far UR and Don't put any chocolate as I still have a lot. slowly is passed down the line. Put 1 kilo of Brazilian coffee (it is excellent) 1 kilo of butter 1 kilo of sugar and more 1 kilo of flour ~ pound of tea, always the same 2 bottles of wine (white) ~ bottle of ordinary oil 1 little parcel of salt 1 piece of soap 2 boxes of cubes (I still have some) a few mandarins, if you can, put in a little jar of brandied cherries, but if it's too expensive, don't put any in.

~ That will be enough like that. - Blow kiss to Current Camille I send you a kiss, DL. Brief freeze. Camille.

A: To avoid Female Inmate 1: In the asylum the inmate becomes part of a great X ULC+ Pose standing with iron machine, which continues to revolve, pelvis facing L and torso rotated carrying her with it. Very little attention is paid to my right side D in slight to her in particular; and inquiries in regard to lunge with hands around head. leaving meet with no response.

Matron Camille: M. Rodin never saw me

Maiden Camille: as I really am. As Matron passes, join her to make The Burghers ofCalais Young Camille: I am not about to get out; pose. Begin slow ten X DR then Uthen Current Camille: they hold me and they don't want to let me go. L to C following Matron Maiden Camille: It is terrible to be so abandoned. I can't help but Camille. This makes a sort of succumb to the grief that overwhelms me. circular path.

A: To berate Crone Camille: I have to my credit thirty years ofstrenuous work and all the same, I am punished;

Current Camille: they keep a tight hold over me and I won't get out.

Young Camille: They reproach me

Maiden Camille: (0 terrible crime) - VI Matron Camille: for living all alone,

A: To mock Crone Camille: for spending my life with cats. Break pose. X DS. Kneel. Pet Male Inmate 2: After all, it's not a crime to want to live alone cat. and to like cats. If so, half the village would be locked up!

A: To hide Sound cue ofsomeone walking with keys. Open cell door. They leave. Quick roll US+. Freeze facing A: To see who is UL. Hear someone coming. The commg person opens the cell door. A: To find comfort Take box from them. Open box and begin to take things out of it. A: I am frozen by Louise: Camille has brought this trouble on herself. Freeze. my mother's voice Female Inmate 4: Your mother, whom I met Monday at the bakery, told me that they would take you out as soon as the war is over. Why not right away? I don't understand.

Female Inmate 1: A woman was tied to a chair by a sheet because she refused to work and wandered around the room.

AfTo hatch a plan Matron Camille: They claim that they will keep me locked up f X just L ere Pace U and D until the end ofthe war: very slowly.

Maiden Camille: it is a joke and a way of deceiving me with false - 0\ promises Matron Camille: for that war will never end and by that time I'll be finished myself!

All Camilles (except SC): I no longer hope to see them again. Stop pacing.

x far DC establish bars. Ensemble cannons out from me so that we are on the same plane. Holding bars with left hand. Kneeling on one knee. Unfreeze and face F to speak, A: To admonish then freeze when someone else Crone Camille: (to Rodin) And you never did take me up to the is speaking. high mountain and show me all the glory ofthe world.

Current Camille: As for me, I am so heartbroken that I have to keep living here that I am no longer a human being. I can't stand the screams of all those creatures anymore; they break my heart. God, how I wish I were back

Young Camille: at Villeneuve!

Louise: She says in one of her letters that she is A: To defy Crone Camille: writing a pack of letters everywhere.

--...J Louise: I hope you keep those letters because as I have often warned, none ofthose letters, whoever they may be for, must be mailed to avoid the trouble they caused us, time and again, last year. Except to me and her brother, I formally forbid her to write to anyone or to receive any communication, visit or letter from anyone. You could never imagine what happened last year. I cannot tell you the danger of allowing her write to who knows whom. With this letter, I enclose another one for her, which I won't seal so that you can read it but please seal it after you have read it.

Young Camille: Mother and my sister have given instructions A: To report Crone Camille: that I be confined in the most absolute fashion,

Current Camille: none of my letters leave,

Crone Camille: no visitor enters.

Louise: She complains about the food and also that her letters are not mailed to her friends who would come to save her if they knew how unhappy she was. Someone told her, and they were quite wrong to do so, that it was by my order that she received

Crone & Current Camille: no news from anyone, - 00 Louise: it was pointless to tell her that, it would only provoke her.

A: To make Paul All Camilles feel guilty (except SC): I am waiting for you.

Ensemble forms a stage picture ofa mass communal shower. t C facing US. Follow the line A: To draw a picture Crone Camille: It all screams, sings, yells at the top of its lungs to UC for shower. ofthe conditions from morning to night and night to morning. These are creatures whose own parents can't abide them, they are so terrible and noxious. And A: To belittle how is it that I should be forced to stand them? To say nothing of the troubles that arise from such promiscuity? It laughs, it sobs, it tells stories that never end where the details get all A: To object jumbled up and lost! How awful to be in the middle of it all. I shout out loud for freedom!

Matron Camille: It seems that my poor studio, some bits of shabby furniture, some tools I carved myself, my poor household goods still aroused their greed! Since the imagination, emotion, the new, the unexpected, are part ofa fine mind and unknown to them, the blockheads, thick brains forever shut to the light, they need someone to furnish it for them. They used to say: Toc FF freeze.

- '-0 Core Ensemble: We use a dreamer to find us our subject matter. Melt down to floor in 7 counts.

Female Inmate 2 is lifted up into a crucifiedposition. Lying on the floor Female Inmate 1: Some ofthe women were strapped to a seat. One wore a "muff', which is a contrivance something like a pair of leather mittens with steel attached, so buckled as to hold the hands together.

Female Inmate 2: Mlle. Claudel, she said, was so silent and diminished that she virtually passed unnoticed.

Female Inmate 3: More than just resigned, she was amorphous. Crone & Maiden Camille: (echoing) amorphous.

Matron & Young Camille: (echoing) amorphous.

Paul: Horrible slanders against us regarding Camille's internment have been published. That is fine. I've received so much undeserved praise that slander is refreshing and good; it's the normal lot t At beginning ofline and of a Christian. Fall to ground at end of line. A: To accuse Crone Camille: Don't forget Paul, your sister is in prison. In pnson

-No Matron Camille: with lunatics

Young Camille: who yell all day long and

Current Camille: are incapable of saying three words that make sense.

Young Camille: You tell me, God

Maiden Camille: has mercy on the afflicted,

Young Camille: God is good, etc.

Matron Camille: Let's talk about your God who lets an innocent woman rot away A: To disown All Camilles t At beginning of line and (except SC): in an asylum. Fall to ground at end of line.

Ensemble scatters. X UC+

A: To inform Crone Camille: I am writing to you because it has been so cold .. Begin rocking back and forth. that I could barely

Current Camille: stand up.

Matron Camille: To write, I could not bring myself to go to the common room where ...... N...... Young Camille: a mean little fire burns;

A: To complain Crone Camille: the racket there is infernal.

Maiden Camille: I am forced to stay put in my room on the second floor where it is so icy that I am

Current Camille: numb, my fingers shake and I can't hold a pen. I haven't been warm all winter. I am frozen to the bone and bent in two by the cold.

Young Camille: I had a very bad cold.

Maiden Camille: One of my friends, who ended up here,

A: To shock Crone Camille: was found dead from the cold in her bed. All Camilles A: To lament (except SC): It is terrible.

Current Camille: I must suffer like a martyr. Crone Camille: Lunatic asylums are specifically designed to A: To provoke make people suffer;

Young Camille: (echoing) suffer

Maiden Camille: (echoing) suffer

Matron Camille: (echoing) suffer

...... Crone Camille: one can't do anything about it, especially if one N N A: To reprimand never sees anyone.

Louise: Your last letter is before my eyes and I can't imagine that you write such horrors to your mother. God alone knows what I will have suffered on account of my children! Watch Louise X DR.

A: To reproach Crone Camille: I never saw my mother again since the day you t X DR to Louise. Kneel to the took the fateful decision to send me to lunatic L of her reaching up in pose. A: To prove I am asylums! I am thinking about the beautiful normal portrait I did of her in of our

Camilles cluster around Current Camille in a tableaux, like a family portrait.

Young Camille: beautiful garden. Crone Camille: Her large eyes in which one could read a secret ST: She was my sadness, the spirit of resignation over her whole mother. Why did she face, her hands crossed on her knees in total hate me? abnegation: all of it suggesting Maiden Camille: a modesty,

Matron Camille: a sense of duty A: To capture the essence ofMother Crone Camille: pushed to the extreme, that's how she was,

Young Camille: our poor mother.

Crone Camille: I never saw the portrait again

IV ­ v.> Current Camille: no more than I did her. Crone Camille: If you ever hear speak of it, let me know. A: To elicit pity Paul: Once I was happy; I was beautiful. But Still in freeze. all ofa sudden Everything broke like a mirror, as if a single day announced That memory was dead among the blind!

Nurse: October 19, 1943 With glass shattering sound cue, Doctor: Patient dies of an apoplexy. break L. Hold 2 counts. X UR.

A crashing shattering sound breaks the Camilles out oftheir portrait. " Current Camille: 1 was locked up in 1913 and, after thirty years of

All Camilles A: To announce (except SC): seclusion,

Current Camille: died on October, 19 1943, in the asylum of Montdevergues.

Female Inmate 1: The last words on her lips before she died were,

Young Camille: my little Paul.

Maiden Camille: (echoing) my little Paul.

Matron Camille: (echoing) my little Paul. IV ­~ X DCR to Paul to embrace him. A: To connect with Crone Camille: (echoing) my little Paul. He slips to ground. Realize he is Paul gone and that I am only holding Current Camille: (echoing) my little Paul. a memory. See mud DS. Kneel. Begin beating fist on thigh, Sculptor Camille comes to Crone Camille and helps her to sculpt rocking to and fro. Other A: To connect with again. She mimes sculpting an ashtray. Sculptor Camille takes the Camilles come to me. Rise. the clay mimed ashtray and gives it to Current Camille. This calms Current and They remove asylum costume Crone Camille andpossibly assists them to survive at least one more and put on slip. Take scarf. X A: To pass on the day. DL to Current. Give her the story to Current scarf Kneeling DL ofher. Camille Freeze. CRONE Scene 15a: The Mound of Clay X C after other Camilles on 2nd CAMll.-LEI toe Up set. SCULPTURE Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Core Ensemble, Paul, Rodin, Rose I am sculpting the mound. Inhale ensemble toes up, down, Scene Objective: To l~ightS: The lights are focused upstage center at the top ofthis scene, I up, down, up and down in three sculpt but spread downstage by end ofscene. counts. Other Camilles are absorbed into the mound. A: Go to mound of This scene takes place outside oftime, similar to scenes J and 8. Toe up, down, up, left, right, clay up, down and I am absorbed A: Sculpt Everyone is involved in the mound ofclay exceptfor Sculptor and into the mound. Obs: I am drawn Current Camilles. Toc up, up, right 1,2, 3 into the clay Left in 5 counts (3 quick, 2 The ensemble is sucked or drawn upstage center. Young, Maiden, and long) Matron Camille's mold the ensemble. The ensemble responds, as if Squish from UL diagonal IV -VI they were clay, being molded by an outside force. Crone Camille is Squish from DR diagonal drawn over. She assists in the molding. The other Camille's are Toe Up, down, down, and absorbed into the clay. Finally Crone Camille, herself, is absorbed into squish out to sides. the mound ofclay as well. Toe up, hands in 10 count, hold 2, in on 5 count. The mound begins having parts ofa body shaped, this develops into Toe up, leg on 10 count, hold 2, them transforming into many different statues. The statues spread out down on 5 count. across stage, traveling downstage. The size andforce ofstatues get Toe up, torso on 10 count, head larger and bolder. This should have a significant visceral impact on the on 5 count, eyes, inhale, down viewers, as if the statues are encroaching into their space. The statues on 2 count. are Camille's living nightmares, her losses, her wishes, her fantasies, Toe up, torso in 10 count, head her regrets, etc. on 5 count, eyes, gesture, down in 2 count. The lights travel across the stage Toe up, full body gesture in 5 count, hold 2, down 2. Full body gesture in 5 count, hold 2, down 2. Full body gesture in 5 count, hold 2, down 2. Full body gesture in 5 count, hold 2, down 2. Full body gesture in 5 count, and hold. Final pose is the Rose character from L'A£e Mur. CRONE Scene ISb: Freedom Hold pose until final curtain CAMILLE/ goes down. SCULPTURE Cast involved in scene: All Camilles, Paul, Rodin, Rose, Core Ensemble

While the statues are moving downstage, Sculptor Camille picks up a sledgehammer. At the climax ofthe mound of clay, with all ofthe N -0'1 statues downstage, she smashes her real sculpture with a voiced release.

The lights movefrom focusing downstage to draw attention to Sculptor Camille, leaving the downstage statues silhouetted in light.

The sound builds and then drops out immediately to be replaced by the real smashing ofthe clay statue on stage.

There are three strikes on the real clay sculpture.

On her first strike ofthe real sculpture, the ensemble statues partially "break" into pieces falling down towards the earth. The Camille statues remain standing.

On her second strike, Current Camille stands in a silent screaming pose or finally a pose offreedom.

On her third strike, the ensemble statues fall completely to the earth. Leaving only the Camille statues still standing.

The ensemble slowly rolls along the ground exiting the stage to the sides. Current Camille comes to life.

Current Camille walks from her chair to upstage center, begins to pick up shards from the smashed sculpture. She is wondering what to do. Sculptor Camille is watching her, encouraging her.

Letters begin to fall from the sky. Current Camille picks one up, looks at it, perhaps reads it outloud, and then drops it or tears it.

N ­ -..J As Sculptor Camille exits the sound ofrain is heardsoftly.

Torn letters fall from sky. Current Camille crosses to centerstage right. She is getting increasingly happier as she senses her freedom.

Small bits ofpaperfall from sky. She crosses to downstage left. She faces the audience; she inhales, bringing her hands go to her heart. On her exhalation, she brings her hands forward, opening her arms sideways. Shards, earth andpaperfall from her hands. She inhales with suspended arms then exhales as her arms float down to sides. She stands still and breathes.

She has survived. She was a woman, who was as artist, who was seen as a threat by society, and was silenced. She has come to the conclusion that she has survived. And she knows that her work will continue to survive for manv vears bevond her. She turns to look at her statues that remain standing. The sound ofrain moves into the sounds ofa flock ofbirds gathering. She places the scarf in the pool oflight DC. Then she slowly begins to back upstage out of the light releasing her work to the world, thereby releasing herself The curtain slowly lowers.

IV -00 CHAPTER4

REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE LOG

In this chapter, I provide a copy of my notes from pre-production through the performances. I also include a copy ofthe rehearsal and performance schedule. I have attached a copy ofthe Director's Concept as Appendix C. Chapter Four is divided into seven sections. The first section consists ofmy pre-production notes. These pre­ production notes include the notes that I took before I knew this was to be my thesis role, as well as my journal from the spring quarter. The notes from early rehearsals are in the second section. The third section is from the working rehearsals, the fourth from technical rehearsals, and the fifth is the performance log. In the sixth section I furnish the rehearsal and performance schedule. The seventh section is a brief summary.

4.1 Pre-Production Preparation

3/26/01: Ideas for Uncommon Clay - Something that only shows ensemble's hands and feet. They pop up in different areas ofthe stage with their hands and feet sticking up, and that is the only thing lit. Another idea I had was to use huge hand and

129 foot "puppets" with choreography that engulfs or overpowers Camille. Another idea was

that Camille breaks out of a plaster ofthe Victorian silhouette or that someone is trying to

enclose her in it.

3/28/01: Tonight we sculpted a partner, then we got sculpted by our partner. It

was very informative. The Beseecher was a sculpture that I chose to embody tonight. (I

love this work.)

3/29/01: I did a pose ofthe sculpture in the Auguste Rodin book frontispiece. It

was the picture in the center with a man posed on a box. I really enjoy being the

sculpture and doing the poses. We did an open Viewpoint session. Jeanine was using

some music from the Kronos Quartet Early Music CD.

3/30/01: Homework for next week... 1. What is the journey ofyour life? Map it

out. 2. Identify pivotal moments. 3. What was Camille's life from peak ofcreativity to age 60? 4. What was life like inside the institution? 5. Make a copy ofall the letters she

wrote while she was in the asylum. 6. Did she indeed only make an ashtray while she was in the asylum? If so, when? 7. What was her daily life like? 8. What did her room

look like? Was it shared or private? 9. Look at grocery list letter.

4/2/01: All that can be proven is abortion - only place kids are mentioned is in

Dne Femme. Check out website for the Rodin Museum. Camille Claudel & Auguste

Rodin is the best book for just facts.

4/5/01: I am too exhausted to even know what I think.

4/9/01: Tonight Briggs brought in the movie Total Eclipse. It is one ofthe most

despicable movies I have ever seen. I am disgusted by the treatment of women. I am

angry that I am being forced to watch it.

130 4/10/01: Tonight was good work. I came in still very upset about the movie last night. To top it off, when I arrived for rehearsal, I saw a notice saying that rehearsal had been changed from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM. To add to that, Briggs came in at 7:30, and said, "Okay, you have 20 minutes to warm yourselves up." I was pouting and angry.

Jeanine asked me what was wrong while we were on break. I told her about the movie.

She, ofcourse, did not have a clue. She also urged me to show my mime piece, "The

Key," to Mr. Marceau. In rehearsal we went over the scene we had done before and clarified a lot ofdifferent things.

4/12/01: We did a viewpoints session with lights and sound tonight. It was very interesting and informative. I was much more affected by the sound than I was the lights.

I think I am more affected by the mood of music, than the beat or rhythm.

4/25/01: Today Sue informed me that the role ofCamille Claude1will be my thesis role.

4/26/01: Tonight we are going through all the scenes we have so far with the designers.

4/27/01: Tonight we did some viewpoints improvisations between Kenderick and me. We found some interesting things. Jeanine gave us some text to use. She told us to just go through the few pages and pick out key lines that seemed to speak to us.

Kenderick and I did two different improvisations and found some different things in each.

Improv 1: I found an interesting body position on the floor; lying down but in a suspended pose. The body is not at rest it is partially suspended. We found an interesting juxtaposition ofmy line, "I am still in the way," with Rodin's "It's your

131 generosity that stands in your way." Another finding was me standing behind Rodin yelling at him while he is completely unaffected.

Improv 2: Pose with mine and Kenderick's arms intertwined behind our backs as if I am in a straight jacket for my line, "They hold me and they don't want to let me go." I like the idea of poses while I am in the asylum and speaking. I like the idea of my revolt on the soap box while Rodin is saying, "She boasts." I went far upstage right for my line,

"I had to disappear ...," while Rodin was saying "victim ofher pride ..." I was sitting center stage on the block for" ...crazy old aunt ... that's how I'll be remembered in the next century." I found the line "I am waiting for you" had a strong impact on me. I think it is important to Camille's character in the asylum. She is waiting.

5/1/01: How can we show the poor state in which she lived prior to the asylum?

Should there be scenes of her locked in her studio with her cats and not eating? I think it is important to show the progression of her instability. We cannot just show her as a strong woman and then suddenly have her being carted away to the asylum. We need to find what it is in her character that sent her there. I need to check into what was happening in France between 1907 and 1913. Check into Protestants, Freemasons,

Huguenots, the "Dreyfus Affair," and the story about Rodin casting from a live model.

According to a letter from Camille's mother, Camille participated in church services in the asylum.

5/2/01: We worked on the incarceration scene tonight.

5/3/01: The costumer brought in some costume pieces tonight. One ofthem was a long red dress with a train. It was so cool. The long dress gave me so much to play with.

I found that I can completely hide under the train of it, crouched on the floor. There was

132 one point when I was completely under the dress and just reached my arms out. It felt really cool. Also, using the dress knowing I look ridiculous and trying to be proper was an interesting discovery.

The other item was the straight jacket. I put it on and was fine until my arms were completely tied behind me. Then I had to be taken out of it very quickly. I almost started to Panic. It invokes a real kinesthetic response in me offear.

This afternoon I found out that John Giffin will be on my thesis committee, so it is now whole.

Tonight is designer night. The lights are incredible. We are doing everything we have so far in order. 1. Opening 2. Mud Flats 3. l" Studio 4. Finding God 5. Draping

6. Rose moistening the clay. 7. Tether improv 8. Big group Studio Scene 9. Sermon with the stations ofsexuality 10. Naomi and Kenderick 11. Incarceration

Jeanine suggested that we think oflines that might be coming from Camille throughout the show. Is Camille insane? What made her leave Rodin? Why does she always look sad?

I would like to go to a sculptor's studio sometime to see what it is like. I need to check into that.

5/4/01: Jeanine explained a few things to us tonight. We had all been a bit confused about what each Camille represented. Christina is the seated extension of

Naomi. Allyson is discovering her art. Eleni's Camille is starting to become skilled at sculpting. Angeles' Camille is unstable but still managing to hold it together. She already knows her style. We need to stay in the moment ofeach of our Camilles and not play the end. Look at opposites. What drives her? Her creativity. . . she creates. Her

133 medium comes to her up from the earth and she manipulates it. Jeanine does not believe

that Camille was clinically insane. She was perhaps compulsive and depressed. She

needed to create. We need to show the beauty ofher work. Was it easy for Camille to

sculpt or was it a painful wrenching out ofthe work? Camille always bossed Paul around

as a kid and called him "my little Paul. " Paul's is the art ofdivinity; Camille's is the art of

humanity. How and when did Camille find out that it was Paul who had her

institutionalized? Jeanine believes that it was this knowledge that made her give up on

life. I need to find out about the Law of 1838.

I think there needs to be a time in towards the beginning of the show where all the

Camilles are on stage together, the dance ofthe Camilles. A1lyson - innocent joy and

dominating, stubborn. Eleni - strength without being jaded. Angeles - passion, physical

relationship with Rodin. Naomi - passion. Jeanine wants to see me go to the darker side.

Kat - immovable force, mass, strength, mythic. Christina - from the audition.

5/7/01: Comments on last Thursday's run ... Jeremy being the first to speak

makes it seem like it is his show. The play right now seems to focus on Paul and Rodin.

Camille should speak first. Maybe we should have the Camilles come out in the first

scene. Have "I was beautiful once ..." be Camille's words instead ofPaul's. What is the

action ofeach scene? I had the idea that in my scene with Rodin at the end when I say, "I

am waiting for you," we should assume the pose of The Age ofMaturity with Rose

leading him away from me. I think it would really show the state ofthe relationship.

5/9/01: Jeanine talked with us at the beginning of rehearsal tonight. This quarter

we have had a lot oftime for exploration, collaboration and discussion. Next quarter will

be more about setting stuff and we will be on a tight schedule. We need to allow Jeanine

134

--- to direct. There will probably be a script at the beginning ofthe quarter when we come back. We made some changes to the scenes we already have; we clarified a few things.

5/10/01: We are working on the transitions between scenes tonight. It is pretty boring. I wish that I could concentrate on doing something else while I am offstage, but it is virtually impossible. I just have to sit here.

5/20/01: Rehearsal was supposed to start at 12:30, then Briggs decided the ensemble was not needed until 1:30. Nothing was posted. I just happened to see Briggs on Friday and he told me, but I think I was the only one who knew. It is really hard to try to rehearse with people missing and with no music. I am not in the mood for this today, and other people are miffed because they had to sit for an hour and wait ... because the call change was not posted. This lack ofcommunication really causes a lot oftension. I am very angry right now, and I do not really even know why. I am really frustrated. I just do not think this show is Camille's story yet. Everything seems really slow and unorganized. People are not remembering things that we set in our last rehearsal.

5/28/01: Tonight we are doing our first tech for the sharing. We wore costumes last night and again tonight. I am feeling very grumpy. I have bad cramps. I feel very crunched for time. I am really tired, and yet I just had a long weekend. I should be rested. Techs are not much fun no matter how you look at it.

I talked to a few other cast members tonight, and it seems as ifeveryone is pretty unhappy. It has created a very strained dynamic with Jeanine not being here so much this quarter. Plus, all the things that have come up without notifying us ahead. Like last night, when we got here, we were notified that we were to wear costumes. I do not know why no one told us this before. Then there was the night that everyone arrived at 6:30

135 only to be told that they were not needed until 7:30. The communication has really been bad this quarter.

We got through almost the whole piece tonight. We did not get to my scenes. I am sure that we will do them tomorrow night.

5/31/01 : Jeanine is back in town. We were a half an hour late starting because we had to wait for her. Then after the show or rather the run, we were given a ten minute break but told to stay in costume. We ended up waiting over a half an hour again - then they gave us notes. None of us were prepared for notes. We did not have anything to write on because we did not know that we were supposed to be getting notes. Notes lasted about an hour. I have no idea if! will remember mine. I am so tired ofthe lack of communication. All I remember about the notes is that she wants us to make the sculpting more stylized and full-body.

6/5/01: We had our final meeting before summer break to wrap up what we did this quarter. Some ofthe cast made negative comments about what we have so far.

Jeanine got really upset and left the room. I had said that I did not think it was Camille's : show yet. Jeanine said that we needed to respect her. I went to her office after she left the room and assured her that I meant no disrespect. I care about the project and was merely voicing my opinion. There are still several things that do not make sense to me about the show. For example, why is Rose the only one who has this long personal dramatic monologue, and yet Camille has none? This does not make any sense to me. I am not really even sure why Rose is in the show. Well, I understand why she might be in the show, but the show should not be about her feelings. It should be about Camille's feelings. I realize that we do not have text for much of Camille's feelings, but neither did

136 we have for Rose. It was from a fictional play that Rose's dialogue was taken. What is

the difference in fictionalizing Rose's thoughts or feelings, and fictionalizing Camille's? I

look forward to seeing the final script.

8/2/0 I: I have been reading and reading about Camille and Rodin and asylums. It

is so hard to do research for a play that has no script. I do not really know what to

research. I feel like I am learning a lot about Camille Claudel, but I do not know how

that will apply to the show we will be doing.

8/21/0I: I have just finished reading the first draft ofthe script. There are several

places that just say, "TEXT," meaning that text will be added in there. The script is

extremely abstract. I am sure the text will make it less so, but it makes me wonder if all

the research is necessary. I think I will be able to whittle it down some. I feel a little let

down that the script is still so incomplete ... and it is scary. Of course, everything is

scaring me at this point in the process. I think the best course ofaction is to just continue

my research and not worry about the script. It will grow and my knowledge can only

help the process. I look at all these books and it just seems so overwhelming.

9/11/0I: I think it is very important that we have scenes prior to Camille's

incarceration that show her tempestuous personality. Perhaps a scene from each Camille

where she rages over something ...?

Idea for a scene ... Camille in studio after initial separation from Rodin. We

have Rodin upstage reciting an invitation he has written to her to attend some award

banquet or something. She replies that she cannot attend because she has nothing to

wear. We have several quotes from Camille that say this.

137

.... Also a good idea to show Camille's decline ... Locking herself in her studio" working feverishly with the cats all around. Maybe there is a moment that shows her in bed unable to get up. Someone knocking on her door and her hiding and not letting them in ... things like this.

Idea for a scene ... Asylum nightmare ... She dreams of Rose and Rodin in the situations that are depicted in the cartoons Camille drew ofthem in 1892. It might be interesting to have the other Camilles become a part ofthese somehow. Perhaps a

Camille becomes the one chained to the wall and Rose is the warden, then Rodin becomes the warden ... or Rose and Rodin in bed together, then Rose becomes other women, perhaps the models. La collage with Rose and Rodin, then it mutates into Rose and Camille or Rodin with other women. I think the key is to set up the drawings, but then mutate them.

Idea for nightmare ... Rodin locking Camille in a room, then Rodin becomes her mother, then Paul.

9/13/01: I found out from Sue on the 10th that I do in fact have to put information about Jeanine and the previous incarnation ofthe show into the first chapter. I finally talked to Jeanine. We meet at 3:15. I am going to the production meeting at 1pm.

It was good to talk to Jeanine. She really helped me feel more secure about what I am doing. She also gave me a bio and her copy of her thesis so I can read it.

I attended the production meeting today. Jeanine told me I could, so I thought it might be a good idea. I learned a lot about how things will happen now. Some things have changed significantly. It's about "transformation and manipulation." Dan Gray talked about the sets first. The Camilles will just be on the deck ofthe stage covered with

138 muslin for the opening. There was no way to do a trap door with us emerging from under the stage. Tatjana talked about the costumes next. She said the story is timeless, so she wanted a timeless feel to the costumes. She had a lot of really complicated ideas about symbols that were very confusing. A few things that made sense to me were that she wants to create a difference between the Camilles and the rest ofthe world. She wants the four "action" Camilles to look different when they are in action than when they are observers. One thing I learned today is that the Camilles are no longer a part ofthe ensemble at all. We are on stage as observers for the whole show, or at least most ofit.

Tatjana wants the actors in the asylum scene to look as naked as possible. This is a bit of a concern for me, but she assures me that I will be covered. Jeanine discussed that she wants to cast a few more actors to replace the ones we lost from last quarter.

As a personal note, I noticed that whenever we talk about Camille Claudel, we all call her by her first name. When we talk about Auguste Rodin, we all call him by his last name. I found that very interesting.

4.2 Early Rehearsals

9/24/01: We had our first rehearsal for the autumn quarter. I placed a copy ofthe

Director's Concept in the Appendices. The designers presented and we read the script aloud. The set is suggestive of an artist's studio. There is a huge window through which light can shine up center stage. The sculptor Camille will be on a platform jutting out from the back wall. There is a ramp upstage right. The rest ofthe stage is completely modular. We will be bringing on blocks when needed and one platform will be used stage right. The set will be the color ofred earth and shades of gray. I think it will work

139 very well. The orchestra pit will be down, and the set clay ofthe floor will extend down it. The front part ofthe stage will be carpet and will have a little place for real clay.

Originally they had talked about having dirt over the whole floor. That idea got changed.

It was too difficult and dirty. I am happy about that decision. I think it would have been much more troublesome than the use we would have derived from it.

The light design will use moving lights. Kris is planning on making the light more white as the play progresses. We will also use a lot of side lighting, and he said we would probably be in isolated lights a lot. The sound has changed some. Katie is using a lot of environmental sound as well as music. She mentioned thunder, rain, things like that. I only hope it will not overpower the words.

It seems that Tatjana's elaborate costume ideas got simplified a bit. I think they will work well. My dress will have a train on it, but probably not as long as the dress that

I was using for rehearsal last quarter. My asylum costume will be a flesh colored leotard with some kind of shift over it that has black pieces of fabric hanging. I only hope it covers me. I think Tatjana knows my concerns and will make sure I am covered so that I am comfortable. The ensemble costumes seem like they will be really interesting. They will add bits and pieces for society people, and rags for the asylum.

The script is much fuller now. There is a lot oftext that has not been assigned to a character yet. I still feel a little lost. I do not know why, but it seems like the normal approach is not going to work. It is definitely going to be a matter of figuring things out as I go. Well, it is always that, but this time it feels different. Because the script is so abstract, fragmented, and movement-based, it feels less certain than when you have a regular script.

140 9/25/01: I am sitting in front ofJeanine's office waiting. We are supposed to have our first official meeting this morning. She is my thesis chair now. We were supposed to meet 10 minutes ago. I hope she has not forgotten.

I got in touch with Jeanine by phone. She rescheduled for Thursday.

Rehearsal: I need to get oriented to the movement again. I am pretty tired because

I have been moving all afternoon. I had choreography class at 1:00, and then worked afterward.

In warm-ups we worked on getting the stylization into our movements, finding the neutral position with pelvis held and chest relaxed, allowing the ribs to expand especially to the back. We worked on moving with the arms outside the normal range, pressing into the ground with the feet. We worked on coming from a prone position into a low squat using a slow continuous movement, Suzuki style. I found a good one starting fully face down on the floor. I came to a low squat by keeping my forehead on the ground until the last possible moment. We worked on gestures resting outside the personal kinesphere with the hands and feet remaining asymmetrical. We worked on the plumb-line from the top ofthe head to center being off-center. Jeanine said we should think about where the light is projecting from our body. What part ofthe body should the audience be looking at. We worked on going from the floor to a low crouch using free­ flow, then pressing into the floor to add strength, then we took it up into a walk. Next we made highly stylized choices for a walk. Each person then got to show their stylized walk. As each person showed their walk, Jeanine would coach them and give comments.

It was really helpful in defining the whole style issue. She also gave suggestions. It is so

141 amazing to me to see the difference when Jeanine shifts someone's pelvis off-center and

expands their kinesphere. That is where the style lies.

I asked about Camille's limp. Jeanine said we could explore it, but that we

definitely need to start identifying common gestures between the Camilles. The limp

does seem to work as a wonderful signifier for the Camilles. We put it in the right hip.

My knee is really hurting right now. I cannot do anymore. Jeanine said for future

rehearsals, do not think about what Jeanine wants, but rather what can each person bring

to the table. Bring in several possible ways to do things.

9/26/01: We had a good one hour Decroux warm up working on the walks at the

end. Jeanine let the ensemble go at 7:30, and we are going to work on the first scene with just the Camilles. I need to figure out who this person is and how to transfer that

information into my body within the style. Doing the Decroux warm up helps so much. I

cannot wait to get the first piece. Then I think I will know which direction we are going.

I still feel very disoriented.

We did an exploration walking in the space and then responding kinesthetically to

what was going on around us. We added gestures and character. I found that it is really

easy for me to go to those dark places. I need to look for the opposites. I found in the

improvisation that Camille wanted to reach back to herself in happier times. She wanted

to be protected.

9/27/01: I met with Jeanine this morning to go over my schedule ofdeadlines for

my thesis. I feel much better about the deadlines now. They seem doable.

Rehearsal: I am still trying to find the physicality ofCamille. Ofcourse, this is

only the second rehearsal, so I don't expect much. The Decroux warm up is so good. I

142 am really glad we are doing it. We worked on the character walks again. I cannot find anything. Nothing feels right. I cannot play that I want to "get away" or shut people out.

What is playable? I want to be accepted and admired. I want to create. I want to go home. I want justice, recognition. Obsession with work is playable ... manic, quick movements, anger.

We worked Scene One. We changed the positions ofthe mound. Christina did not feel comfortable being in the front, so I changed places with her. Katie watched, then added organic sound from the ensemble coming from offstage. As we were coming up, we each chose a word that makes us grow and we whispered that. We did it two or three times. I think we have a fairly good sense of ensemble.

We are working on the streets ofParis. Jeanine was just giving a note to Sarah, and it was so clear. Sarah was running around selling flowers and Jeanine suggested that she build the sequence. First, give someone a flower and they walk away without paying, with the next person she should put her hand out for the money and they don't pay, so she doesn't give them the flower. For the third person, she should offer the flower, take the money, then give the flower and react gleefully. It just made it so clear to break it down that way and really see the progression. The ensemble has come up with some really wonderful characters: the flower seller, a pickpocket, a prostitute, and a street-sweeper.

9/28/01: We are supposed to go over what we have done so far, then go on in order ofthe scenes and continue blocking. We worked on Decroux triple design in the warm up tonight. We worked a lot on walks again. I do not feel like any ofthese walks will really be usable for me as Camille. Maybe they are taking me out of my normal habits, but they still do not seem to fit the character.

143 We did a very short vocal warm up. I did not like the wann up. I felt like it encouraged people to push the sound out, and could lead to vocal strain. Each person in groups offour had a vowel to hum, then partners faced one another and pushed against hands while humming the vowel. I do not know what school ofvocal training this comes from, but it seems too easy for novices to hurt their voices.

We continued blocking from Scene Three, Rodin's entrance through the wrapping, which means I sat around a lot tonight.

9/29/01: We did some really nice work on the opening scene today. I moved to the center, Allyson and Angeles are over me, so I have to be just below their pelvises. I found some gestures for the first scene when we are on our own. The first is with my hands at belly button level as ifkneading the clay, but it also looks like inner turmoil.

Second is looking at the pieces ofbroken sculpture. Third is covering ears. This is highly stylized with the hands not actually touching the head. Four is trying to break out ofthe bars. This is a lunge pose. Five is closing shutters, and six is petting cat.

10/1/01: I brought some books with great pictures in them for everyone to look at on the Salons, Studios and Streets ofParis. We are supposed to be continuing with blocking Scenes Seven, Eight and Nine. We did a Decroux warm up and worked on coloring and de-coloring in and out ofcharacter poses. We worked on walks again. I think that Camille would have held her head high in defiance. It feels right.

Angeles and Kenderick are both sick, so rehearsal has been modified. We are going to do Rose's scene and then go back and do Scenes One, Two, and Three.

144 We took a really long time with Rose's scene. I am doing the pose from the top of

The Gates ofRell with Dean and Laurel. It got a little uncomfortable holding the pose for so long.

10/2/01: My knee is really hurting again. I had my dance class today and then worked a few minutes this afternoon. I guess I did not warmup well enough before I did it. We are supposed to work Scenes Eight through Ten tonight.

There comes a point in rehearsal when it is just about getting through the blocking. When I sit around too long, I just get tired and I am not even thinking.

When we were setting Scene Nine, Jeanine let me advise about which sculptures were most important to the show. At least I felt like I was doing something. I keep having to remind myself the other Camilles are a part ofmy character. It is a weird thing.

Jeanine asked me if there were any sculptures that would be appropriate for

JenIRose to be in the studio. The only one I could think of would be Clotho. Jen is not here tonight, so Jeanine could not see what it would look like. It might be really spooky.

If she is in the studio (Scene Nine), then she would be probably in the Exhibition (Scene

Ten).

I found it really fascinating to have the women playing the negative male critics.

I suggested to Jeanine that she have a negative male critic be played by a woman. I think it changes the impact ofthe statements.

10/3/01: Tonight we are blocking Scenes Ten, Eleven and Twelve. We had the usual Decroux warm up. We did an exercise where you strike a pose, then on a five count your head toes to a different direction. Jeanine did it on a five count, then went down to four, three, two, one, one, and one. She said this is very much the way she wants

145 the Exhibition scene to work. She asked Dean and Allyson each to lead us through a triple design sequence. She asked me to lead vocal warm ups. After we were done,

Jeanine asked me if! would be interested in vocal coaching the show just to make sure people were warmed up and listening for articulation and clarity. We came to the conclusion that it would be best if Sara Borgeson is the official coach with me as

"mentor. " That way the pressure is not quite as extreme. Jeanine said we would make it a priority to let me get a vocal coaching credit this year. I do not see how that will happen, but it would be nice.

We worked on Scene Ten from 7:30 to 9:30. I stayed in the Beseecher pose the whole time. I did not even hold it the whole time and by the end I could not do it anymore. Jeanine let all but Angeles, Kenderick and Jeremy leave early. I need it.

10/4/01: I dropped my choreography class today. Because I did not have to go to that class, I was able to get some writing done. I have almost finished the section on mental illness.

Rehearsal: We did a very short Decroux warm up. Tonight we are blocking

Scenes Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen.

Jeanine was setting the lover statues. I realized that we had Shakuntala in Scene

Nine and mentioned it to her. She said she might have to change that.

I was talking to Angeles about some ofthe mental illness research. We might be able to use some ofthe physicalities - hand-wringing, pacing, immobility ...

10/5/01: We did a run-through of One through Fourteen tonight. I cannot help it, but it really does not make sense to me that Rose has this huge dramatic monologue. It feels wrong. Oh well, it's not my script.

146 I need to remember to wear the long rehearsal skirt from now on. I forgot it tonight.

10/7/01: Blocking Scenes Fifteen and Sixteen.

10/8/01: We blocked Scene Seventeen (Asylum). Tonight's warm up did not have any Decroux in it. I liked the Decroux. I found it helpful. I wonder why they changed it.

I hope we go back. I was comfortable in the routine. We got a new script for the Asylum tonight. We read through it a couple oftime, then Jeanine wanted us to look at some

Expressionistic Art books. She said this is the style ofthe asylum. Jen Manvich asked whether Camille was crazy or not. Jeanine asked me to explain what I have learned from my research. Jen Schleuter came in with the translation ofthe asylum documents.

Judging from what is there, she sounds pretty crazy. I am upset that I turned in my research chapter already, and I am just now getting this information.

We got about one-quarter ofthe way through the asylum scene. It was a very slow moving rehearsal. I was exhausted.

It occurred to me after rehearsal that I have done so much research on this character that it is all in my head. I have no physical or emotional connection to the character, except perhaps my own anger at Paul for abandoning her the way that he did.

As soon as we are blocked or as soon as possible, I need to start finding her more physically. I need to clarify.

10/9/01: Finish blocking the asylum scene.

Last night I was so angry. I absolutely hate it when there are this many people in this room, and no place that I can claim as my own. I really need to have a space of my

147 own to which I can retreat when I am not on stage. I like having a quiet spot. A lot of people in the cast are sick right now.

We got another new script for the asylum scene tonight. It is very confusing and, due to the photo call, we were missing three people for the first halfand hour or so ofthe rehearsal. It was very frustrating. It took us until 9:00 to sort out the scripts. We cut some stuff from the new script.

10/1% 1: We are supposed to finish blocking the rest ofthe show tonight, and then do a run-through.

I do not like these movement improvs we did tonight at the end of warm ups. I felt slammed into them. I did not feel creative at all. It was like I was resisting or angry or something. I am angry that I do not have anything in my body yet.

We did a rough run - really rough. It is such a pain to carry a script in a movement piece. We ran late, so there were no notes.

4.3 Working Rehearsals

10/12/01: We got the final script tonight.

10/15/01: Our warm up tonight started on the floor with the lower back, etc. and then finished with Briggs' "I love you" exercise. A lot ofthe cast members really hate this exercise. There are always lots of groans when he announces what we are about to do, and halfthe people do not fully participate. It is a real morale-buster. Either everyone needs to grow up and behave like adults and just do the exercise, or we need to not do the exercise anymore. It really starts rehearsal off on a bad note.

148 Jeanine says that most ofthe notes from Wednesday were for her and the designers. Tonight we are to finish blocking the remainder ofthe show in detail.

We ended up working the "Mound ofClay" the whole night. I feel like a truck ran over me. This show is very physically tiring. I spend a lot oftime on my knees, or just on the floor. I do not think I got all the mound moves written down properly/completely.

10/16/01: We were supposed to work Scenes 16b and 1 through 3 tonight. I am not feeling well at all. I had a headache all day. I hope I am not catching the cold that some ofthe others have had.

Jeanine convinced me to leave rehearsal early. I left around 9:00 PM. Before I left, we went over the mound ofclay scene again once or twice. Then we finished blocking 16b. After that, we went back to Scene 1. I think it is a little cleaner now. We will have sound cues for the different gestures and statue. It went well. I feel pretty comfortable with that. What I am not yet comfortable with is Camille. I am still having trouble feeling the physicality - the style ofthe physicality. I want to stay too naturalistic.

I understand mime and movement. I know the character intellectually. Now, how do I connect the two? Thank God, we still have some time before we open.

10/17/01: I did not go to rehearsal tonight. I still do not feel well. We were supposed to work on Scenes 4-7. I am not really an integral part ofthose scenes so I do not think they will miss me much.

10/18/01: We are supposed to do Scenes 8-10 tonight in the space. That means I basically just sit there. I plan on bringing my script onstage so I can work on lines.

149 Jeanine told me she just wants me to go home and take the rest ofthe night off. I am going to stay long enough to put Eleni into her slip in Scene 8.

We worked for about an hour after the 45 minute warm up and 15 minutes break, then I went home. I left around 8:30 PM.

10/19/01: I am feeling much better tonight. We are supposed to work Scenes 11 ­

12b. Kat, Allyson, Christina and I have been sitting on stage for over an hour playing with clay while they worked Scene 11. I must say a lot ofpeople have done a lot of sitting around throughout this rehearsal process. And when you are on stage, just sitting there, it is hard to work on anything else. I understand that Jeanine wants everyone here for warm ups, but I know that people are feeling that their time is not being used wisely.

I do not understand why we are going in sequence instead ofdoing all the big group scenes together, so people can leave.

10/21/01: I think part ofthe reason that I feel so one-dimensional right now is that

I am not experiencing the whole arc of the play - because I do not play the character throughout. I am an observer for most ofthe play. I need to find a way to reconcile this within myself.

10/22/01: Tonight we are supposed to work on 13-14b. I am going to try to work offbook as much as possible. I made some really good discoveries in 13. For one thing, it occurs to me that you do not play objectives the same way in this type ofwork as in regular plays. Although, Jeanine said possibly an overall objective for this scene might be to hold on to my sanity. But each moment or beat is different. There is no through­ line. You just have to play each beat for what it is honestly.

150 The blocking is starting to get set in this scene. It is starting to feel a lot better.

We had to do 14a and 14b without Colin, who plays one ofthe guards. Mark, the other guard, was not here when we blocked it (which was the last time we did it). Now, Colin is not here. We did it with Mark and Erin, the stage manager, standing in. It really is hard when people who are vital to the scene are not here. This has been a constant problem this quarter, a lot of absences. My control issues really pop up in situations like that. I really want to make people be here when they are needed.

10/23/01: Working Scene 15 (Asylum) tonight. I am still trying to find the physicality.

We got some good notes tonight. Briggs said to worry less about matching others in shared lines, and think more about the way your character would say the line. Think of your objective. Who are you talking to? This is a tough one, since we are speaking to thin air. The script has practically no actual dialogue. It is all either spoken directly to the audience or to someone who is not on stage with us. This is creating a very strange problem for me.

Which other people in the asylum do I like? It seems that they all scare me right now. I do not want to be there, and do not want to be friends with them. The blocking leaves little room for interaction. It is all this abstract movement. We all seem to be in our own realities, but they are not necessarily together.

Briggs said I am pushing the end ofthe "It all laughs" monologue. He says it sounds like I am hurting myself. I told him, ofcourse, that I am not. However, when I got home, I realized that in fact I am hurting myself. I need to pull back on this, and not push so much from my neck.

151 Jeanine is to bring in a picture ofthe pose tomorrow night. We still are not getting it right yet. She wants all statue choices set for Thursday's rehearsal.

I need to recheck and clarify the beats in the asylum scene for myself. It is still a little muddy. Jeanine wants us to vary the pacing at the beginning ofthe scene. She says that all ofthe freezes have about an 8 count pause between them. She wants that to change, so that some have more, others less. We need to remember that when we shatter, the point ofinitiation is Christina. She is shattering. Add a blast, starting fast and then slowing down.

10/24/01: We are supposed to work the last two scenes tonight, Mound ofClay and DestructionlFreedom. They painted the stage floor today and there are still wet spots. We warmed up in 107.

We went through the transition out ofthe asylum into the mound, then skipped straight to the end ofthe mound and did the final scene with Christina several times.

Jeanine let her leave early. She is sick.

Then we worked the mound. We did it a few times with Jeanine calling it as we went. It has changed significantly since we blocked it. I asked at the beginning if we could write it down with her calling it out because the last time we wrote it down was from our collective memory after the rehearsal. I do not like working this way. I like to write as I go. I know this is a different kind ofdeal, but it is still a little frustrating for me. Anyway, we went through the whole thing with her calling it. Then she let us get our books and she called it so we could write it down. This scene is so tiring. I am exhausted.

152 10/25/01: We are doing a run-through tonight. I am just going to try to remember the sequence ofthings. There is so much movement to remember.

The run-through was extremely rough. It felt terrible. Unfortunately, there were people watching too. That made it feel even worse. I was so lost, even in "Home" which was my most solid scene. I am starting to panic. It felt like total chaos. We have crew watch on Monday. We do another run tomorrow, then Saturday we work scenes.

A general note from Mo and Jeanine was that everything is too narrative right now. It needs to have the emotional connection. Jeanine wants to make some more changes to the show. Christina will be getting more lines. Some ofthe text from Scene 3 will now be in Scene 1. We open in 13 days.

10/26/01: Continuing notes from last night. Jeanine wants me to be stronger with the stick at the beginning of "Home." The moment I decide to get the stick the ritual begins. Jeanine says that if we go for the emotion in the body, then the voice will follow.

Tonight we are doing a run-through. Before we began, Jeanine told us about all the changes she wants to make to the show. The first major change was that all ofthe dialogue from Scene 3 is being moved into Scene 1. And the scarf would somehow come out of the fabric we are covered with at the beginning. Then she added lines for Allyson and Jeremy in Scene 2, and the Camilles were added to the scene with just one shared line. Then Scenes 3 and 4 were kind ofmerged into one scene. In "Home," instead of the ensemble pressing in towards me, Jeanine wanted them to redo the streets ofParis in slow motion all through the scene. In the asylum, the box unpacking was to become something with the fabric.

153 Well, when she was talking about all these changes I was terrified that it was somehow going to make things harder for me or that we did not have time to make such major changes. It made me very nervous. Then we worked through the first few scenes.

It really felt good. The beginning seems to make more sense now. When we came to

"Home," it was extremely nerve-racking for me. I had people crossing in front ofmy space at the wrong time. Colin missed a line, then fed me the wrong cue. It was quite unpleasant. I really got angry because Colin has missed Practically the last week because ofother commitments, and it annoys me when people are missing. It throws everything off. Anyway, we took a break and when we came back, things seemed a little easier and better.

Actually, the whole run felt so much better than last night. I felt like I sort of knew where I was going, etc. The visitors who watched last night should have come tonight. Although, I know that all ofthese wonderful changes are probably the result of an outside eye being able to see it. So, it worked out.

I realized tonight that I have been forgetting to wipe my own face with the scarf.

I found some more active choices in the asylum scene. It helped that I was not holding a script. I desperately need to work lines though. It has been hard to memorize since lines were not assigned, etc.

After the run, Jeanine said it was "excellent." It was a different show from last night. Phew. It just might come together and work.

10/27/01: We are supposed to work all the transitions today. Katie is also recording some dialogue to use in the sound score. Katie asked us to choose some ofthe lines and words that we feel are most important to our characters for the recording. It

154 was an interesting exercise. This is the first time that Jeanine has allowed the cast to be broken up and some people worked in other rooms.

In notes about last night, Jeanine said never to break the fourth wall and give lines directly to the audience. This does not make a lot of sense. Most of my dialogue is given to the audience, or at least in their direction.

Today's rehearsal was pretty light. We just walked through all the transitions.

That really helped clear up a lot of questions. Then we set the bars for the asylum. I place them, then people canon out from me so we are on a line. Then I went upstairs for

Katie to record the lines. She is going to distort the sound for layering. After we finished recording, everyone was released except the Camilles. We read through the scenes with a lot of shared lines. We were reading through Scene 1, and Angeles got really upset. She said that she does not think Camille has much ofa voice in the show. She thinks all of the lines are very passive/not active, all about things being done to Camille, and narrative. In a way I see her point. Camille is the only character who does not have a major monologue. Well, I guess Rodin doesn't either. But, Paul, Louise, and even Rose have monologues. It does create an imbalance. I also understand what she is saying about the passivity. But, I think there is a way to play it that is active. It is not like doing a regular play. It is very narrative and abstract, so you cannot look at playable objectives in the same way. It is all about subtext and filling all these really narrative lines with life.

You have to figure out from moment to moment what the situation for the words is ­ because rarely are the words you are saying corresponding to what is happening on stage.

Or what you are doing onstage is a distillation ofthe thought or the situation. I am okay with it not making perfect sense. I prefer this kind of work to realism. It is fun and free.

155 10/29/01: Run-through with crew watch.

The run went okay. The asylum scene was an absolute mess. Towards the end of the scene, everyone is real unsure oftheir lines. I am absolutely exhausted. My whole body hurts, particularly my shoulders. I dropped at least one line in the asylum.

10/30/01: Tonight we are working the asylum, mound and exhibition to clean them up.

4.4 Technical Rehearsals

10/31/01: First Tech. I was amazed at how well the technical rehearsal went. We did stop and start, but it was clear that the designers had done their homework and were ready. Kenderick started running the warm ups tonight. I was really worried that he would come in and try to lead us in some macho kind of warm up that I could not keep up with, but it was fun. I enjoyed it.

11/1/01: Second Tech. Tonight Kenderick's warm up just went over the edge for me. He had us do some kind ofmilitary-type exercise where we partner up, and one partner lies on the ground and lifts their legs. The other partner stands at their head and pushes the legs back down. Itjust seemed so military, and it was not helpful in warming me up. I do not like my warm up to be changed on me.

11/2/01: Third Tech. Tech is going very well.

11/3/01: First Dress. We had an 11:00 AM call for a 1:00 PM curtain. I was not at all happy about being called that early. I am absolutely exhausted and grouchy. They put all the women into one large dressing room, and they split the men up in the small dressing rooms; three men per room. This does not make sense to me at all. The show

156 went fine. We had to wait a really long time after the show for notes. They kept us until

4:00PM.

11/4/01: We were offtoday.

11/5/01: Second Dress. They moved the dressing rooms around. There are three

Camilles in each of the small dressing rooms. Ensemble women are in dressing room 3, and the men are in dressing room 4. This makes much better sense to me. The run went okay, but I dropped a line or two. I completely blanked during "Home." Thank God,

Jeremy was there to save me. He just went on to his next line.

After the show we got a fifteen-minute break: but had to stay in costume. When we came back, we waited for about 15 or 20 minutes for them to get finished talking about tech stuff Then we reblocked the curtain call. Before the show, Jeanine cut a couple ofphrases out ofthe mound. We worked it after warm up. I think it works better, but it's hard to remember changes when they happen just before a run.

11/6/01: Final Dress Rehearsal. They changed our call time to 5:30 PM. I think that is a little more reasonable. I had a few minutes to look over the script to figure out what I messed up last night.

The show went so slow tonight. I felt like molasses. Again, we got a fifteen­ minute break after the show to get out ofcostume - and again we sat for a long time waiting for notes. I am having trouble writing about discoveries and stuff because I am so exhausted. My body hurts all over.

157 4.5 Performance Log

11/7/01: Opening Night. The show went okay, but not great for me. I sort of felt like I was phoning it in. I was extremely nervous, and sometimes nerves cause my performance to suffer.

11/8/01: Second Performance. The show went great for me tonight. I felt much more connected. Lydia and her Mother were in the crowd. We had a small fire before the show started. One of the main curtains was too close to a lighting instrument, and it caught on fire. They managed to put it out fairly quickly, but it was a strange event. The stage smelled like smoke when we went up to begin. Fortunately, we only had to hold curtain for about five minutes.

1119/01: Third Performance. It went well. I am looking forward to the long weekend. There is a muscle in my glutes that is really hurting. I am not sure what it is, but it makes doing the show pretty painful.

11113/01 - 11118/01: The show is going well. My mother and grandmother came

th into town very late on the is". They saw the show on the 16 . I thought it went fairly well. They came back to see it again on the is", as well. They really liked it. Strike was not too bad. I am glad that I did this show, but I am also very glad that it is closed. It has been very draining physically. I do not think that my body would have lasted much longer unless I found some way to get more rest or to make the work on stage easier. I do not think that would have been possible though.

158 4.6 Rehearsal and Performance Schedule

Auditions January 25 and 26,2001

Callbacks January 28,2001

Spring Quarter Rehearsals March 26,2001

Spring Showing June 1,2001

Research Summer 2001

Autumn Auditions September 20 and 21, 2001

Rehearsals Begin: Designers Showing and September 24, 2001 Read Through

Working Rehearsals September 24, 2001 - October 30,2001

Technical Rehearsals October 31 - November 2, 2001

Dress Rehearsals November 3,5, and 6, 2001

Opening Night November 7,2001 at 7:30 PM

Performance Run: November 8 - 9, November 13 - 16,

2001 at 8:00 PM

Matinee performance November 18,2001 at 4:00 PM

Post show discussion. "Afterwords" November 15,2001

Teachers'Seminar November 18, 2001 at 1:15 PM

Post Production Meeting November 20, 2001 at 4:30 PM

159 4.7 Summary

On the whole, I found keeping a journal very helpful to this process. It was particularly useful in the initial stages of the rehearsal process. I had so many ideas floating through my head that it was beneficial to have a place to write them down. Some of my ideas were actually used by Jeanine for the show. That made me feel like more of a vital part ofthe creation process. It seems that I use a journal in a different way than a lot of other people. I like to use it for questions. Rarely do I write the answer down in the journal. The answers are usually written elsewhere or simply found in my body.

However, it was still a valuable tool that I will continue to use.

160 CHAPTER 5

EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION

In approaching the role of Camille Claudel and the writing ofthis thesis, I

'attempted to meld the Stanislavski system, Viewpoints training, Mime and Suzuki

techniques, and Lessac voice work to develop an effective performance. In many ways I

feel that I was successful. I have also identified areas that could have been improved.

Since the script came late in the process, I was not sure how we were going to tell

the story when I began my research. Therefore, I felt compelled to read as much

information as possible on Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin. I am certain that this

information formed a strong base on which I could build my character. It also allowed

me to answer the questions of others involved in the show. I became so familiar with

Camille's work that I was able to make suggestions about which sculptures would fit into

different scenes.

The research I did was extremely valuable. The personal accounts ofmental

patients from the time period were useful, but I wasted a lot oftime reading more than

necessary on certain topics. For example, I had several books on mental illness. In the

end, I know that anyone ofthe books alone would have been sufficient. I did not need to

read the others. Perhaps in the future I will remember to work smart, not hard.

161 Frankly, the books I read about artists and social conditions were not completely necessary. The research did give me background, but I do not think that having that knowledge was essential to my playing ofthe role. On the other hand, I wish I could have found more descriptions ofphysical manifestations ofmental illness. I did receive a copy of Camille's medical dossier after I had already written my research chapter, however this was largely unusable, for a number ofreasons. The first was merely the fact that it was so late in the process when I received the information. Also, Thompson's choice ofhow the asylum scene would look and what it would include had been made.

Most important was the fact that much ofthe information was not theatrical. For example, Camille was very overweight when she arrived in the asylum. She lost weight rapidly after she was incarcerated since she was afraid they were trying to poison her and would not eat. There is really no way to show this theatrically, although it served as good background information.

My first instinct after doing my character research was to try to make an emotional connection with the character. Eventually, I realized that the emotional connections were taking me to physically naturalistic places. After I discovered this, I was able to let go ofthe need for that naturalism and attempt to move into a more stylized and theatrical physicality. My physical choices were all still based in what I had uncovered in my research, but they had to be taken to a heightened theatrical state. I did have an emotional connection to the character, but I had to let go ofit in order to find the physicality. After the physical vocabulary was set, I realized that the emotional connection I had found with the character through the research process enabled me to achieve real motivation for metaphorical or abstract movements.

162 I think that my research would have served me better ifI had spent more time sculpting or observing a sculptor. I was able to meet with an artist once. She gave me a few pointers on sculpting, and also gave me a small amount ofclay. It was extremely helpful, but I am afraid that it was too little, too late. Similarly, I think it would have helped me to spend more time in rehearsal working on my hand movements. I know that my handwork was not as artfully done as it could have been. It never occurred to me until after the fact that I could have been working on my hands during the rehearsal time when I was sitting on the stage in the role of the observer.

The production circumstances were generally good. A real sense of ensemble was present among the cast, and it was a pleasure to watch other people work. We were able to draw from one another, establishing true reciprocity. However, there were numerous instances ofa lack ofcommunication from stage management to actors. This caused problems and the cast reacted negatively to the lack of communication.

There are several issues regarding methodology that merit mention here. It was extremely helpful to have the Decroux warmups in the beginning of the rehearsal process.

It was a reminder to my body of the stylization necessary. I regret that I did not speak up when we discontinued the Decroux warmups to express how helpful it was to me. I did not like it when our warm up ritual changed because what we had been doing was working for me. Unfortunately, I injured my hamstring somehow in the show, and I think if! had always had enough time to warm up the way my body needed to warm up, I might not have hurt myself The lack oftime for warming up was another instance of inadequate calls being made by the stage management team. Because we did not receive the necessary calls, warmup time was often cut short.

163 Many aspects ofthe Stanislavski approach to creating a character did prove useful. Of particular use to me was the idea that Camille was always talking to someone specific, not just narrating to the audience. However, I had to constantly remind myself that I was not to respond realistically. I had to keep going back to the stylization of mime and Suzuki work.

The interesting difference between our work and my training in Marcel Marceau's work was that in Marceau's mime work, he talks about finding the essence of an emotion.

However, in Uncommon Clay I had to get very specific. I was not finding the essence of an emotion. I was trying.to find the essence ofa real human being. There were specific given circumstances that needed to be present. I had to be very specific about who, what, why, where, and when. I had to find the essence and the stylization without being general in my actions. For example, one of Marceau's character stances is "anger." I could not portray just a generalized anger as in his character stance. I had to be specific about who I was, and why I was angry.

I do think that I had a tendency to get stuck in Camille's anger at being incarcerated. I was constantly looking for ways to play against that. The truth is, she did spend a lot oftime being angry, but for the stage I needed to show more than that. There was a continual battle within me between the truth of Camille's life and the theatrical. In the end, due to the nature ofthe show, I ultimately gave preference to the theatrical.

The Viewpoint exercises that we used in early rehearsals stayed with us throughout. They became a part ofthe experience. Most importantly, we continued the

164 awareness that is so encouraged by Viewpoint training. This was beneficial to our cohesiveness as a group. I will most definitely continue to use these tools in my work for the future.

The usage of Suzuki technique was minimal, but important. It gave the entire cast an awareness oftheir feet that I think worked beautifully. This attention to the feet became a part ofthe overall look ofthe show.

Amongst all ofthis movement, the Lessac system ofvoice work allowed me to tell the story. During the spring quarter my voice would get very tired during rehearsals.

After the Lessac training I did in the summer of 200 1, I was able to maintain vocal intensity for the performance without feeling fatigued. It is such a good approach to use in a large space like Thurber Theatre.

In the early rehearsals I had several ideas for the show. However, once the script was written, I had to stop thinking like a playwright and to let go ofmy ideas about what was true or right. Some of my ideas were used, but Jeanine had a very strong vision of the story and the way it should be told. Besides, I had enough to do with merely acting the role and writing about the process.

I do think that writing my thesis on the role of Camille Claudel in Uncommon

Clay was a wonderful opportunity for me to examine and articulate my process. All in all, I wish I had worried less about the writing process and simply concentrated on the acting. My constant stress over writing detracted from the experience as a whole. I do look forward to creating new works such as this in the future. It was a wonderful experience that I hope to repeat.

165 BIBLIOGRAPHY

SOURCES ON CAMILLE CLAUDEL, PAUL CLAUDEL AND AUGUSTE RODIN:

Barbier, Nicole. Camille Claudel. Zurich, Switzerland: Pro Litteris, 1990.

Bugliani, Ann. Women and the Feminine Principle in the Works ofPaul Claudel. : Studia Humanitatis - Jose Porrua Turanzas, 1977.

Butler, Ruth. Rodin: The Shape ofGenius. New Haven: Yale Unversity Press, 1993.

Caranfa, Angelo. Camille Claudel: A Sculpture ofInterior Solitude. Lewisburg, NJ: Bucknell University Press, 1999.

Claudel, Paul. The Eye Listens. New York: The Philosophical Library, 1950.

Delbee, Anne. Camille Claudel: Une Femme. Trans. Carol Cosman. San Francisco: Mercury House, 1992.

Eisenwerth, J. A. Scholl. Rodin and Camille Claudel. Trans. John Ormrod. Ed. Anne Heritage. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1999.

Graziani, Graziella. Camille Claudel. Biblioteca Cominiana, 1989.

Grunfeld, Frederic V. Rodin: A Biography. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1987.

Higonnet, Anne. "Myths of Creation: Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin." Significant Others : Creativity and Intimate Partnership. Eds. Whitney Chadwick and Isabelle de Courtivron. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993. 15 - 29.

Ibsen, Henrik. "When We Dead Awaken." Trans. Brian Johnston with Rick Davis. Ibsen Volume III: Four Plays. Lyme, NH: Smith and Kraus, 1998. 189 - 235.

King, Edward L. What Masons Believe. 8 Sept. 2001 .

166 Paris, Reine-Marie. Camille: The Life ofCamille Claudet Rodin's Muse and Mistress. Trans. Liliane Emery Tuck. New York: Arcade, 1984.

Quehec, Dominique. Le Pain dur de Paul Claudel. Arniens: La Maison de la Culture d'Arniens, 1978.

Riviere, Anne, Bruno Gaudichon, and Danielle Ghanassia. Camille Claudel: Catalogue Raisonne, Paris: Adam Biro, 1996.

Russell, John, trans. The Correspondence 1899-1926 between Paul Claudel and Andre Gide. New York: Pantheon, 1952.

Smith, A. D. Howell. Preface. The Life ofJesus. By Ernest Renan. London: Watts & Co., (1863). 23 August 2001 .

Tacou, Constantin, ed. L'Herne Paul Claudel. Paris: Editions de l'Heme, 1997.

Vilain, Jacques, Claudie Judrin, Antionette Le Normand-Romain, Alain Beausire, Helene Pinet, Helene Marraud, and Stephanie Le Folllic. Rodin at the Musee' Rodin. Trans. Judith Hayward. Ed. Maggie Doyle. London: Scala, 1996.

SOURCES ON FRANCE AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS:

Alexander, Martin S., ed. French History Since Napoleon. London: Oxford UP, 1999.

Anderson, R. D. France, 1870-1914: Politics and Society. Boston: Routledge & K. Paul, 1977.

Borsi, Franco and Ezio Godoli. Paris 1900. London: Granada, 1978.

Deedes-Vincke, Patrick. Paris: The City and Its Photographers. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1992.

Fuchs, Rachel G. Poor and Pregnant in Paris: Strategies for Survival in the Nineteenth Century. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1992.

Gutman, Helene. French-English English-French Dictionary. New York: Random House, 1997.

Lonergan, W. F. Forty years ofParis. New York: Brentano's, 1907.

167 Monoha, Gilberte, ed. Paris. New York: Lumen, 195-?

Small, Sasha. Heroines. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1937?

SOURCES ON ART AND ARTISTS:

Brittell, Richard R. French Salon Artists. New York: Harry N. Abrams Press, 1987.

Mainardi, Patricia. The End ofthe Salon: Art and the State in the Early Third Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993.

Mathews, Patricia. Passionate Discontent: Creativity, Gender, and French Symbolist Art. Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1999.

Milner, John. The Studios ofParis: The Capital ofArt in the Late Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP, 1988.

SOURCES ON MENTAL ILLNESS AND ASYLUMS:

Beizer, Janet. Ventriloquized Bodies: Narratives ofHysteria in Nineteenth-Century France. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994.

Bellenir, Karen, ed. Mental Health Disorders Sourcebook. Health Reference Ser. 9. : Omnigraphics, 1996.

Clark, Robert A. Mental Illness in Perspective: History and Schools ofThought. Pacific Grove: Boxwood Press, 1973. Dowbiggin, Ian R. Inheriting Madness: Professionalization and Psychiatric Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century France. Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1991.

Gelfand, Toby, ed. Freud and the History ofPsycoanalysis. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press, 1992.

Geller, Jeffrey L. and Maxine Harris. Women ofthe Asylum: Voices from Behind the Walls, 1840-1945. Foreword by Phyllis Chesler. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. James, Tony. Dream, Creativity, and Madness in Nineteenth-Century France. New York: , 1995.

King, Marian. The Recovery ofMyself; a Patient's Experience in a Hospital for Mental Illness. London: Oxford University Press, 1931.

168 Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff, comp. A Dark Science: Women, Sexuality, and Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century. Trans. Jeffrey MoussaieffMasson and Marianne Loring. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1986.

Ussher, Jane M. Women's Madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness? Amherst: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1992.

Williams, Janet B. W., Ed. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1987.

AUDIO AND VIDEOS:

Camille Claudel. Screenplay by Bruno Nuytten and Marilyn Goldin. Dir. Bruno Nuytten. Prod. Christian Fechner. Perf. and Gerard Depardieu. Orion, 1989.

Total Eclipse. Screenplay by Christopher Hampton. Dir. Agnieszka Holland. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio and David Thewlis. Fine Line Features, 1995.

I Accuse. Screenplay by Gore Vidal and Nicholas Halasz. Dir. Jose Ferrer. Perf Jose Ferrer, Anton Walbrook, and Viveca Lindfors. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1958.

La Gloire de Mon Pere [My Father's Glory]. Screenplay by Marcel Pagnol. Dir. Yves Robert. Perf Philippe Caub, Nathalie Roussel, Didier Pain, Therese Liotard, Julien Ciamaca, and Victorien Delamare. Orion Pictures, 1990.

SOURCES ON ACTING, MOVEMENT, VOICE:

Dell, Cecily. A Primer for Movement Description: Using Effort-Shape and Supplementary Concepts. Rev. ed. New York: Dance Notation Bureau Press, 1993.

Dixon, Michael Bigelow and Joel A. Smith, ed. Anne Bogart: Viewpoints. Career Development Series. Lyme, NH: Smith and Kraus, 1995.

Lessac, Arthur. The Use and Training ofthe Human Voice: A Bio-Dynamic Approach to Vocal Life. 3rd ed. London: Mayfield, 1997.

O'Neill, Rosary. The Actor's Checklist: Creating the Complete Character. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.

Stanislavski, Constantin. An Actor Prepares. Trans. Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1965.

169 Suzuki, Tadashi. The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings ofTadashi Suzuki. Trans. J. Thomas Rimer. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1997.

Thompson, Jeanine. Personal interview. 13 September 2001.

---. "Uncommon Clay." MFA Thesis. Ohio State U, 1993.

170 ILl The following document is extracted from an album entitled An Album Confessions to Record Thoughts Feelings & c. The title page is marked Florence M Jeans September 1878. What follows is an interview with Camille Claudel.

Your favourite virtue. Je n'en ai pas: elles sont toutes ennuyeuses. (I do not have any: they all are tedious.)

Your favourite qualities in a man. D'obeir a sa femme (To obey his wife.)

Your favourite qualities in a woman. De bien faire enrager son mari (To successfully make her husband become mad. To successfully vex or exasperate her husband.)

Your favourite occupation. De ne rien faire (Doing nothing.)

Your chiefcharacteristic. Ie caprice et l'inconstance (The whim and inconstancy.)

Your idea ofhappiness D'epouser Ie general Boulanger (To marry General Boulanger.) - This refers to General Georges Boulanger (1837-1891): ministre de la guerre (1886-1887) tres populaire, il regroupait autour de lui les patriotes (Minister ofWar. He was very popular.)

Your idea ofmisery. D'etre mere de nombreux enfants (To be mother to numerous children.)

Yourfavourite colour andflower. La couleur qui change Ie plus et la fleur qui ne change pas (The color that changes most and the flower which does not change.)

Ifnot yourself, who wouldyou be? Un cheval de fiacre a Paris (A carriage horse in Paris.)

Where wouldyou like to live? Dans Ie coeur de monsier Wilson (In the heart ofmonsier Wilson.) Peut-etre s'agit-il de l'homme politque francais Daniel Wilson (1840-1919), gendre du president Jules Grevy, implique dans Ie scandale du trafic des decorations dans les annees 1886-87 (Perhaps is it about the French politician Daniel Wilson, son-in-law of president Jules Grevy, implicated in the scandal ofthe traffic ofthe decorations in the years 1886-87?)

172 Yourfavourite prose authors. Monsieur Pellerin auteur des celebres images (Mr Pellerin author ofthe celebres images.) Jean-Charles Pellerin (Epinal, 1756-id., 1915)

Yourfavourite poets. Celui qui ne fait pas de vers (The one who does not make verse.)

Yourfavourite painters and composers. Moi-Meme (Myself.)

Yourfavourite heroes in real life. Pranzini ou Trupmann (au choix) [pranzini or Trupmann (This one or that one, you choose.)]

Yourfavourite heroines in real life. Louise Michel (1830-1905) : institutrice et celebre anarchiste qui prit part a la Commune et fut deportee en Nouvelle-Caledonie (1873-1905) [Anarchistic teacher and celebrity who took part in the Commune and was deported to New-Caldonie.]

Yourfavourite heroes injiction Richard ITI

Yourfavourite heroines injiction Lady Macbeth

Yourfavourite food and drink De la cuisine de Merlatti (?) (l'amour et l'eau fraiche) [Kitchen ofMerlatti (?) (Love and fresh water.)]

Yourfavourite names. Abdonide, Josephyr, Alphee, Boulang (Boulanger?) [Aplhee - dieu-fleuve dans la mythologie grecque - (River-God in Greek mythology.)

Your pet aversion Les bonnes, les cochers et les modeles (The maid, coachmen and modeles.)

What characters in history do you most dislike? lIs sont tous desagreables (They all are unpleasant.)

What is yourpresent state ofmind? II est trop difficile de Ie dire (It is too difficult to explain.)

173 For whatfault have you most toleration? Je tolere tous mes defauts moos pas du tout ceux des autres. (I tolerate all my defects but not at all those ofthe others.) [underline by Camille Claudel]

Your favourite motto. Un tiens vaut mieux que deux « tu l'auras > (It is better to have one thing, than to want for something you might not get.) This is like the American saying: "A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush."

Cam Claudel16 Mai 1888. (Riviere196-l97)

["We do not know exactly under which conditions Camille Claudel knew Florence Jeans. We know Jeans was a friend ofJessie Lipscomb who probably introduced her to Camille, in Paris or England. Jeans' letters mention Jessie Lipscomb and Amy Singer frequently" .... Riviere 187]

174 ~LI

AIOlS~H q:lll:Ud ut S;}lBQ nreuoduq :8: XICINHddV Milestones in the history ofParis (Manoha), along with corresponding occurrences in Camille's life (paris).

December 8, 1864 - Camille' Claudel born.

1869 - Louis-Prosper Claudel is appointed to Bar-le-Duc. Camille receives schooling from the Sisters of Christian Doctrine.

1870-71 - Franco-Prussian War; Paris besieged (Sept. 19, 1870 to Jan. 28, 1871).

Sept. 4, 1870 - Third Republic proclaimed.

Mar. - May, 1871 - The "Commune" rules Paris.

1876 - Camille molds her first clay figurines: Bismark, Napoleon I, and David and Goliath.

1881 - Camille moves to Paris with her mother and siblings.

1884 - Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin meet.

1888 - Camille receives an honorable mention for her plaster of Shakuntala at the Salon des Artistes Francais.

1898 - Definite final break with Rodin.

1906 - Beginning ofCamille's "madness."

1913 - Camille committed to the asylum.

1914-18 - World War I.

1914 - Camille is transferred to Enghien, then to Montdevergues due to the war.

July 14, 1919 - "Defile de la Victoire" under the Arc de Triomphe.

1939-45 - World War II. German occupation ofFrance starts June 1940.

1943 - Camille Claudel dies at Montdevergues.

Aug., 1944 - Liberation ofParis by the Allied Armies.

176 LLl Uncommon Clay

An original movement theatre work

conceived and directed

by

Jeanine Thompson

Director's Concept

January 23,2001

What is the story:

Uncommon Clay is a movement theatre piece based on the life and work ofthe

French sculptress, Camille Claudel, 1864 - 1943. Camille was a student ofthe French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. She specialized in creating hands and feet. Rodin was famous for his sculptures of hands and feet, but it was actually Camille who created most of them.

She became a very well known sculptor via her own works. She also became

Rodin's mistress and bore two to four children by him. Rodin was married and would not risk the disapproval ofhis patrons by raising children born by a mistress. Therefore, he arranged for the children to be raised by anonymous people outside ofParis. One ofthe most profound tragedies of Camille's life was that once she would locate her children,

Rodin would have them sent to another location.

At the same time, Camille was presenting her work allover Europe. She was a hit.

There was a similarity between her and Rodin's work, but there was also a distinct difference. They were both highly astute at capturing the essence of people of many

178 types, ages, and circumstance in large scale sculpture, but Camille's work possessed a slight rotation of the limbs and torso which heightened the sense of emotion and sense of life in her work.

Other artists flocked to see her work. Soon her work was copied and presented by other artists as their work. Additionally, her studio was broken into and her works were stolen, presented, and reproduced under other artists' names.

In response to all of this, she withdrew from Rodin and the public to her home/studio which was located on a tiny island in the Seine river. The river flooded seasonally. During that time the island's inhabitants would leave their homes and return afterwards. But not Camille. She would not risk leaving her works unattended. So she would stay in her home, continuing to work, chiseling away while standing in a foot of water.

Camille's desire to protect her work eventually became so strong that once she finished a work, she would walk around it, enjoying it for a few days. Then, she would pick up a sledge hammer and destroy it. Smashing it to shards. She would pick up one of the shards and put it on a tiny shelf where other shards from many other works were kept.

That was all that she needed to remind her ofher creations. She protected her works by storing them in her memory.

Her brother, author and playwright, Paul Claudel, found Camille's life as an artist, working woman, mistress, and unwed mother to be completely disgraceful. The final turning point for him was when she remained in her flooding little home, the growing accumulation of stray cats, and destroying her own sculptures. He interpreted her behavior as proof that she was insane and he decided to have Camille forcibly

179 institutionalized. The guards from the Montdevergues asylum broke into her home,

forced her into a straight jacket, dragged her out ofher home and into a white paddy­

wagon. She was 49 years old.

She was placed in the "lunatic asylum" along with many other individuals

suffering from dementia and many other serious mental and physical illnesses. Camille

was sure that it was Rodin that had her put away. It wasn't until years later that she found

out that it was her own brother.

She lived in the asylum for thirty years, and she died there at the age of79. The

only piece ofsculpture she created while she was there was - an ashtray.

Was she truly insane? Or was her behavior a natural response to the events

happening in her life, especially considering the lack ofsupport systems for women

during that time.

That is the question we will explore in Uncommon Clay. Along with bringing the

majesty ofher life and work to the stage. We will also develop the script based on letters

she wrote while she was in the institution and writings about her by Paul Claudel.

What will the process ofcreation be like:

This work will be created in collaboration with the designers and ensemble of 16

performers. We will begin the creation process by developing the work during Spring

Quarter 2001. We will resume work in Fall Quarter 2001 with performances in the

.Thurber Theatre.

180 How many members ofthe cast:

There will be 16 people in the ensemble. There may possibly be 2 - 4 children cast, bringing the total ensemble to 18 or 20 people. I envision the ratio ofmale and female to be pretty even with a leaning towards more females.

The ensemble will transform into many characters, elements, and pieces of sculpture. Advanced movement and mime skills are required.

What specific roles will be portrayed:

5 women portraying Camille Claudel at different stages ofher life, approximate

ages being 13, 18,33,49, and 75.

Auguste Rodin, French Sculptor

Paul Claudel, author and playwright

Production Team:

Dan Gray - scenic

Kris Jones - lighting

Katie Whitlock - sound

Tatjana Longerot - costumes

Briggs Cormier - Assistant Director

Jennifer Rankin - Stage Manager

Erin Riddle - Assistant Stage Manager

Jen Schlueter - Dramaturg

181 Scenic Design ideas:

I have envisioned a number ofelements that represent an ideal. I am not sure if they are possible, but perhaps we can gain the essence ofthese elements.

I am inspired by the transforming scenic designs ofTheatre de Complicite. Their large scale ofdesign is also similar to the large scale ofsculpture that Rodin and Camille worked in. The performance area is transformed into the world ofmud, clay, large pieces ofsculpture, and podiums on which the sculpture exists.

I envision the performance floor to be covered in red dirt, recreating the world of

Camille's life: the river banks and its red mud that she first sculpted; the sculpture studio; the dirt and mud ofher flooding home; and the dirt floor ofher room in the institution.

I envision walls encasing the performance space, possibly made out ofsomething like foamcore which can be lit in many interesting ways and easily cut. I would like large scale hands and feet to emerge from the walls similar to the enfolding ofa giant puzzle.

And these hands and feet could drop down slightly during Camille's destruction ofher piece of sculpture.

I need three levels, podium/platform places: one up-stage center, the other two right and left ofcenter, progressively smaller in size.

I need a large piece ofsculpture (a new one every night ofperformance, and many versions for rehearsal) which will be on the center platform with a woman portraying the

"universal" Camille. She remains constantly there until the end ofthe piece. I will also need wet clay to be on the center platform too.

I envision pieces ofyellow elastic ribbon, which will be connected to the children and will detach when Rodin takes them away.

182 I envision water dripping from the sky into a dirt floor in a specific area at the top ofthe show. I also envision at the end ofthe show for it to rain, and the rain turn into sand, which will turn into shards dropping from the sky, with bells tolling, as the curtain is slowly lowered.

Costume Design ideas:

I envision some type ofuniversalcostume that does not hinder movement yet reveals the shape and movement ofthe body. We will need costumes or pieces for the ensemble members who portray specific characters. I would like for the costumes to have a layering progression, so that at times the ensemble is fully clothed; at times they can drape either their costumes or just fabric over them when they are portraying models; and a small bottom for men and women with a small top for women made out of ragged fabric for when they are portraying transforming pieces ofclay.

Sound Design ideas:

When I originally did this work, all of my sound sources came this Camille's period of life, 1864 - 1943. I want to continue to use this time period while including many other options as well.

183 Lighting Design ideas:

I see that this work is perfect for a collaboration with moving lights. They can

illuminate, they can create fantastic shadow and light for the sculpture and characters,

they can express the emotional states of the characters, they can follow Camille around the space, they can focus in to reveal a minute physical detail and open up to reveal the

landscape surrounding that detail. The possibilities are endless.

Production Schedule:

Fall 2000 and Winter 2001 Qtrs. = Development phase

Spring 2001 Quarter Rehearsals begin with all designers and performers

Summer 2001 = Director continues to refine the work developed to

that point.

Fall 2001 Quarter = Resume rehearsal, tech, and performance of work

in November.

184 ~81

3u!M0qS 3updS wOlJ W1U30Jd :0 XIaN3ddV 981

SIUaSIJd a.l.eaql '0 IU81U1.I.da CAST Camille Claudel tin order of appearance) Christina Sidebottom Kathleen Gonzales AUyson Rosen Eleni Papaleonardos Maria Angeles Romero Naomi Hatsfelt August Rodin Kenderick Hardy Paul ClaudeJ Jeremy Meier Rose Beuret.. Jennifer Manvich Young Paul Claude/ Deen Evans Ensemble Sara Borgeson, Heather Burley, Kelly J. Cox, Dean Evans, Kathleen Gonzales, Kenderick Hardy, Naomi Hatsfelt, David E. Lintzenich, Jennifer Manvich. Erin Mayhugh; Jeremy Meier, Allvsan Morgan. Eleni Papaleonardos, Maria Angeles Romero, Allyson Rosen, Colin Sweet. Sarah Lynne Uetrecht

SCENES

1. Opening Metaphor 7. Keeping the Clay Wet

2. At the Riverbed 8. A Relationship Develops

3. Rodin's Studio 9. Creating "The Lovers"

4. Interrupting the Master 10. Sermon/Stations of Sexuality

5. To the Glory of God 11. Fractured

6. Seduction 12. Captured, Seized, Possessed

Running time is approximately 50 minutes with no intermission. Following the performance there wilt be an AfterWords post-performance discussion with the director, designers. cast and crew.

187 PRODUCTION STAFF Producer Lesley Ferris Director Jeanine Thompson Assistant Director J. Briggs Cormier scersc Designer 011 n Gray Costume Designer Tatjana lDngerot Lighting DesigF1er Kristopher D. Jones ASSistant Lighting Designer Christ Athanas Sound Designer Katie Whitlock ASSistant Sound Designer , Katie Hrta Stllge Manager __ Jen Rankin Assistant Stage Manager Erin Riddle Tecnnlca\ Director Mark Shandll Production COOf'dinatOl' '" Jim Knapp Dramaturg Jennifer Schlueter Seenerv Aun Crew Gordon R. Holey, Brian Petrick, Nathan Slolln Costume Run Crew Shira Lee. Anthony Peeples Lighting Console Operator Mark Bernhardt Sool'ld Operat(l( Debbie Uhl Poster and Program COVBr Design " Kristopher D. Jones Poster and Progrllm Layout Laura Sipe

osu THEATRE'S NEW WORKS INITIATIVE In 2000. the Departmerrt of Theatre reo In addition, each year the Department ceived an Academic Enrichmant Grant from the collaborates with the Thurbar House to bring a Office of Academic Affairs st the university to practicing playwnght with national stature to further develop its much-praised, and now na­ campus and the Columbus eommvnity. In 2000. tionally recognized, New Works initiative. The the playwright-In-residence was Caridad Svich. title of the successful grant ;$: Performance in Latinota theatre specialist. Hef play Alchemy of the 21st Century: A New WorkS Laboratory. Desire/Dead Man's Blues INZIS produced in Feb­ ruar~ 2001 as part of our seaacn. Other recent • OSU Theatre has II long history in cen­ Thurber pillywrights·in·residence workshop pro­ tral Ohio of featuring new works by famous play· ductions include Fersl Music by Brian Silberman wrights. including our ()Wn James Thurber. This r1999). and YelJow Moon Rising by Ca rlvle commitment to new works ell-tends back at jesst Brown 119971. to 1970 with the world premiere of The Night ThoT6EIU Spent jn JaR by JerDme Lawrence and In Spring 1997 the department featured Robert E. Ute [authors of Inherit the Wind and a ground-breaking New Work as part of its pro­ Avntie Marne'. directed by Dr. Roy Bowen. In duction season. This came togftther for several 1986 Lawrence and Lee gave their consid"rable important reasons: the history of new play de­ theatre archives to the university leading to the vetopment in the department. the1undlOg of the naming at the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Re­ Moving Lights Lab, the development of New Search Institute, which houses archival materj­ Works curriculum, and the Wexner center part­ als from pl&ywrights and designers along with nership. Key New Works faculty - Jeanine Th· international performaF1ce artists like Twyla Tharp ompson and Mary Taramino - joined faculty end Marcel Marceau. voice speciahsr Phil Thompson in creating lnte­

188 rior Day. Students were involved in every aspect Lights laboratory to train student designers with of this project from contributing to the text, new technoloqv The department encourages sound design, lighting design, stage manage­ young artists to think about creating new works ment, running crew. costume design. Students with all sorts of new media and new technol­ were also involved as members of the audience: ogy. including sophisticated lighting systems, the over 1200 students registered in our Theatre 100 Internet, and 11 now -beinq-developed Virtual class saw a performance. What was unique Theatre Project. The Moving Lights Laboratory about this project was the process: acting fac­ at Ohio St8te. for example. was established ulty designed lights using the moving light tech­ through several grants, along with a partnership nology; lighting faculty acted in the production. with the Texas-based Veri & Ute Corp, the pre­ Such cross-overs demonstrate our ability to use miere moving lights manufacturer. The educa­ our production season as a laboratory for ex­ tional programming co-sponsored by the lab and periment and development. Vari & lite is the first of its kind at a major re­ search university, and serves as a source for This creation of new works often comes from a experimentation and research in production. coltaboratrve process in which artists from the entire spectrum of theatre production work to­ • The department partners with the Wax.­ gether as the "author" - including students, ner Center for the Arts to provide a rare wealth actors, directors, lighting designers, costume de­ of opportunities for its students. This year stu­ signers. set designers, and so on. One example dents had the opportunity to engage with the is tonight's performance of Uncommon Clev. following Wexner Artists: Gate Theatre of Dublin, which wiH be fullv staged in the fall quarter of Improbable Theatre, the Wooster Group, and 2001. Another example is Breaking the Cur­ Anne Bogart of SITI. Most recently our students rent, a work created by Jeanine Thompson for worked with Toronto-based theatre ensemble da our 1998-99 season. Jeanine will tour this piece da kamera to develop their latest piece. Beauti­ to Memphis in the fall. Yet a third example is a ful View. In the fall of 2003 Beau",uf VIew will work co-created and performed by Sue Ott Bow­ have its fully-staged world premiere at the Wex­ lands and co-created and written by Mark Evans ner Center. Bryan. called Mercury 7 with Signs Following. to be featured in the New Work.s Lab Series next • The department is also developing cre­ year. ative ways to engage a new generation of writ­ ers. Under the direction of Joy Reilly, undergradu­ • The department is a pioneer among ma­ ate students collaborating as "The Writing Com­ jor universities in America, offering an MFA in pany" have produced significant new works. In Acting with a specialization in creating New fall of 1999, The Writing Company was hired WorKS. This program offers the opportunity for by the Wexner Center for the Arts to participate students to specialize in the research and cre­ in its ArtVentures program, in conjunction with ation of innovative new works, often solo per­ Julie Taymor's Playing with Fire eXhibit. In the formances. The first MFA actors who created spring of 2001, The Writing Company produced New Works graduated in 1999: Giles Davis and the first ever ~Take-Out Theatre" festival, which Anike Iourse. Robin Gordon and Michael Karp consisted of several original 5-minute plays. Due continued the tradition in 2000. Next year our to the success of this year's festival we plan to season will feature two New Work.s developed include more Take-Out Theatre next season. by Kathleen Gonzales and Allyson Rosen.

• The depanment is leading the way for universities in the establishment of a Moving

189 061

;):)treWJOjlQd wOlJ W1U~O.Id :3: XICIN3.ddV I bH~~nment of theatre i~ :: m , presents

This production was made possible through the support of an Academic Enrichment Grant (rom the Office of Academic Affairs.

Thurber Theatre November 7 - 18, 2001

191 CAST Young. Camille " Allyson RO~I:II MaidenCamille F,leni 1>:lflakoniroos Matron Camille , , Angeles Romero Crone Camille ~aoJlJi Jh.st~h ~ Current Camilie Christina Sidcrorrom SculptorCamille Kathleen (jol1l11lcs Paul Claudcl , Jeremy "Icier Augll~le Rodin Kenderick Ilardy Ro~ Bouret , Jennifer Manvich Louise Claudcl : Sam Borgeson Enscmhk Murk Bernhardt, Heather Hurley. Dean Evans. Laurel Jackson, Allysun Morgan, Joey Schultz. Colin Sweet. Sarah Uctrecht

Thill production runs approximately l)(J minutes with nu intermission.

*This role is being performed ill partial fulfillmentof the f\tF.A. degree ill Acting.

Audio and Visual kCl:uroillg Devices are pmhihilcd ill Ih-e theatre. 111 con:;idcnllillll M the actors, please tum ulf all cellular phones and beepers,

SCF.J'iES

The Artist Emerges II Waltzof the Flesh 2 Playing in the Mud 12 Severed 3 The Streets and Peopleof Paris IJ The Crone Awakens 4 The Maestro's Studio 14 Horne :5 Ilcr Style Develops 15 The Capture 6 Quivers and Caresses 16 Torn

7 Rosl: Speaks 0111 17 The-Asylum X Camille Matures IH The Mound o r Clay » Her Artistry Emerges !t) Freedom to The Exhibuinn

192 PROI>IICTI()N STAFF Producer _~ark Shanda Director Jeunire Thompson Assistant Director J. tlriggs Olrmi..:r Scenic I)esi~ncr Dan Gray Costume D•.-signcr Taijana Long..:ro~· Lighting Designer Kristophcr D. Jonl:i·· Sound Designer Katie Whill,)Ck Technical Director MarkShunda Production Coordinator JirnKnapp Stage Manager Ern Riddle Assistant Stage Manager Keri God-cy Assistant I.ightillg Designer Chris! /\ thana; Assistant Sound Designer» Kat)' Hire, Eric II. Mayer Drarnaturg en Schluetcr Vocal Coc1(.'h :'\t1aura:n Ryan Movement and Vocal Captains _Eleni Papalcooardos, Sara Borgeson Box Office \1~mager Jos, E Scharer l.ogo De..ign Kristopher n. Jones Poster and Program Design laura Spc

....These desigos have: been n'la

PRODtJCTIO:\ <'~Rf:W Scene Studio Supervisor Chad Mallin Propcrties 1\.1 anager Brut! Stcnmctz "~~islanl Properties Managcrs Justin Ha~Qvasky. '.late Sloan Scenic Studio Teaching I\<;'ioeiah:s Christ Athanas, Carla Chaffin. Who Jeong Lee, Urat! Steinmetz. Scenery Construction ere Steve Arnotd, David Atkinson. John Beu«, Kelly Brubaker, Theresa Brundage, Jillian Burgos, Casey Uurm. Kevin Callison, Andrea Clark. Litlm Dillon. Jennie Doclger, Susan Estell, Judi Genter, Kate Harvey, Todd Henderson, Scan Hennessy, Rebecca Helbrook. l.cigh Ann Houchin. Amber Jordan. Erin Kutz, Amy Kern, Michelle Little. Megan Lucas, Urad Michel, Talia Montgomery, Allyson Morgan, Erin O'Keefe, Jamie 0:>. Icy.Jcnnitcr Pcu ibone. Bernadette Pholc, Chris Pine, Shantia Priester. Amanda Purcell. Ben Ranz, Lindsey R~lI, Sarah Rcl.'SC. Erin Riddle. Michael Schnell. Peter Schwartz. Christina Sidebottom. Buckly Stephens, Shaun Suchan, Jon Thimdu. Frank Tupputo. Amy Tzagoumis. Lena Walker. Ben Waters, Amy Whittenberg. Stephanie Wilkerson, Toby Wilson. Ebony Wimbs, Jo..hua Zirgel Scenery Run Crew Doug Avery. Currie Bri/ius. Laura Butler, SCll11 Dunbar..Amy Fischer. Stephanie Wilkerson

193 Costume Studio Supervisor , Julia \Vass Costume Studio Teaching hssoc-i:lI~S Melissa B. Bialko, Jocelyn Jurlinu. T:!I.!~.nl:l LOll!:!l'f'" .\dmll Wesl Costume Construction Crew SkV"illlh; Dean, Lauren Lnglcman. Brca fitlgerald. Laurel Jackson, Lintla G. Mason WardrobeIlead ' Brea FiI7.gcraJd ('U1lo1umc Run Crew WcsLic Grosh. Walter llolt, David Lewis, Cassandra Rae lightin~ Studio Supervisor ' Mau Hazad LIghting Studio leaching Associates Jim Hutchison. Kristophcr D. Jones. Drew Wurd Production Elcctriciun Scan Heme ~.Y Assistant Electrician John Kirkman Lighting Programmer Mark Bemhash Vari*LitcProgra1l11UCT Drcw\Vard Lighling Console Operntor Jonathan Barnes Lighling Crew David Dean. Amber Fi..her, Seifu Gcrnercu, Keri Godsey. Nicole Heinlein. Dan Lllipply. Brad Michel. Joe Neikirk, Brian Obermeyer, Melinda Sanders. Adrian Shepard, ShaunSuchan. Rebecca Swab Suund Console Operator __ SISCL.')'Sink House Manager« Wendy Hoop. Katie Miller Box Office Staff. Colleen Bochacki. Joshua M. Bo~ilc. Jennifer Foraker, Kimberly Harriston. Lisa Hawkins. Carissa .I. Scurlock Box Onkc Associates Jonathan Felix. Tiffany Furrester. David Lewis. Erin Mayhugh. Laura Simpson. Nathan Sloan, Jennifer Winkcler, Jennifer Workman

NEW WORKS L.AB PRESE.",",S .... STAGED READING OF' 4 After. "'lIJlI

MfNCUTY SeV8n with Signs FoHowing You've seen the performance and now you are eager to talk about it. Here's your Co-conceived by Mar1< Evans Bryan. and co­ chance! For each production an invited conceived and performed by guest will give a brief response to the play Sue Ott howlands and lead 8 discussion with the audience. January 29, 2002 Join us on Thursdey. November 15 7:30 PM New Works Lab, The Drake Renate Margrit Burgyan. In conjunction with Sculptor T R I Matthew Nelson, _rome uwrerll:e anclliOoert E.ll!El Dept. of Women's Studies Tnutr. All5~n Institute ..... 1951 - 2001 ....

194

, L FIlO\t TlIE DIRECTOR In 14:-\5 I went to Rodin's museum ill Paris, France. where Rodin had dedicated

As a result. I became intrigued with creat ing a performance work using the phvsical aspects of sculpture. My strong des ire 10 I-.:tl the story of Camille C la udcl. however, fueled the crcat ion of this work, e n! 0 111111011 Clay , Claudcl huo L 10 1< : FIe,:; Panalcona nln», l,,'t' lUi ::;il k Hardy. and survived a great de al as i: woman and arti st. rk,II" ,'1" Burley Clauocl was seen 3 S a threat, and ultimately v:as silenced by her family and socierv. I based Oil lcrtcrs that Claude! wrote while in the bclicvc that she must have co nic to some sense asylum. We also created a ph ysical score that. Ar\~ solllt ion in order 10 surv ive with ir: an through movement and mime. expresses the. asylum for thin)" )' :;;;1'''. Some of thai rc solurion emotional depth of her work, The impetus for came from knowing her creal ions wou ld this movement theatre piece came from an early survive for many years beyond her life. dance work thai J created in IY9:\ in partial lulfil lmcnt ofmy MFA 31 OS ti in the Depart­ l incomrnon elm' was created through collabo.. ment ofDance. ration with the produ ction learn and ensemble. We han: spent the pnst year th:n:loping a script n - . .-----. I 1 U Special thanks to: Ii Marcel Marceau, for teaching the e ns~!l1bk and \'isiling oiu rehearsals during his residency I 1Tl April ~oO I: Jog stttcr~ and dear friends. Douglas Mo ody, Tamara Cohen and Randy I I Grantham. j ! i ,.- j

195 CAi\ULU: CLACI>EL During this peri od orsepara tion. Claude] cre ated ( 1864-11)43) xurnc <)f her best \\' 01'1..., . I ( KlI;;lIl ~ ,10 dying passion ;,;',J llln,png" A Ik r ;J Ji spfJy of her work in I rlO~ Cam ille Claude] wa-. horn \\ as met wid; lin k popular acclaim (<; situauon in the \ iHage of which would recur in her career L Cluudd began a Villencuvc-sur-Fere near slo\\' slid e into \\ ha t ha, been S<': ~'!1 a, " prog ressive the Champagne region of derangement . "\Cl ing herself ill 1,.\ her stud io. France. Tile eldest of ~uing Ou t «n!v :H night. and break i:l1-' and burning three children. Camille \\'0$ very close to her many Dr her sculptures, younger brother, Paul. and It' her father. Louis­ Pill-PC;', Du ring. her childhood, Claudel was drawn In llJ.l 3, just one w\?ck aiL::' the death PI' her father, 10 sculpture, molding cta y th ill she found in nearby Ciaudd', mother, brothe r, and i rcalill ~ ph ysician fields. In his lat,']' yea rs, Paul remembered young corrunitred her 1(1 a mental institution, Once in the Camil!e in thi s wuv : " l ' \?I: her once again as she insrnution. C1auc!t:I's delu sions became more ac ute. wa s. a superb young wo man, inum phenr in her and she began !O insist that "Rodin's Gang" was heatHy and gen ius, widding an often cruel as cen­ aucmpting 10 poison her and to stea l her artworks. danc y ('v~ r my early years ." ,\ith l)U ~h Claude l made several requests during her iutcnuncnt hI be released. and did in fact sho\\' In IRli 1. at the age uf se venteen. Claude] convinced man y signs o r recovery. her mother and brother her famil y 10 move to Pari,.. so that sill: could requested that she remain in the institution. where continue her training as a sculptor, While in Paris. she died in I <) ,~ 3 , at the age or seventy-nine. Claude! attended the Academic Colaross: and rented a studio SP~Cl: \ \ ith so m e Englj~h friends. ( I ~411-191 7) \\. hilt' th:":h:. :\U~ll s l~ Hi.~d ' n {t\V\.:111y-l\'lU:' yt"ar.-, her AU~lbk Rodin \.\(I S SI..'!!j(H"). ~. i~ih:d her s li i~ i(\ and seems 11,.:' :l~i\:'" 1;:!!ara,'G. by mali )' :1, the nC'c(:Jl1c fascinated b\' her l'tknt. m;iHlli','. and Iorcmos: sculptor of the . ' beauty, Claude! became Rodin's pupil. a sculpiorx nineteenth and earl y ""i:,lan r i 11 hi.; \\ ork ! a Jl c (, ~ tu ('a,'h ship \\-ith Rodin was hi" c,ommon-la\\' wile, R,.s<: O!her. onen iOCLhing on t:1"<.J lie cnnplil1 !!' , c0I1iph­ Betnel. :\ pennanclll lixtu re of de\'oltllIJ in Rodin"s (aling the que~.tlon of ;~ r\ ~s l i L' jj!t:';bttrion . lift:. [kur,'1 \'IH!urcc! hi~ affa irs alld clliltinu..:d to support his work, lahng on th\? unglamorous hba! 1)1 j S92, Claudcl b ~o l.; c: ~I w

196 ~ l " t :-' l' (, fll m i ~ s jl ' ns r"l ncr, ~ :t ~' m r lin g to se l up cxh ibinons. and rt:'lllt:,;tilli! Iii'l l he r work Iw\'C a P CI111il O<:: il l Ih\l11<: i' l his perso na l rnuscurn . Rodin t'\'l 'lltll ; d l~ wed I{o;.l.' fkurt't on her deathbed ill I'JI T. lk died a k It I:1Ol11i ts later, b~ !lHl: he g J\ ;.... hl~ n;Hnt rt' his ilh..o g ititll.lh: son.. .'\ tJ g: \:·~a e BCUfl?L

R".I"(I'·' Ii 1>1' Jennu»: Schlueter. J)r;JI1//ii U,!

'I ht1ll.;.dll, ; 1'(: . " J ! !,t ~ lI \ r l Rod»:

OSU THEATRE"S NEW WORKS Il"ITlATI\'E

In ]lfUO . ; n(: Dep an mcni orT heatre rcc ... ived an mem in the depa rtment. the- fundin g orthe '-'loving ..'\.,'ade;m,. Lnn c hment ( j rdll! fn lOt tlh: O tti t'C or Lights Lab. the development of N<.'w Work s ,\C:1dnllC Affairs at th ~' university to further curriculum. and the Wexncr Center partnership . dc\ ,Ie·" its rnuch-prais.... L and now nationally Key '\;t'''\' \\'ork, faculty - Jeanine Thompson and ren)L:ii!.'c(L '\<."W \\'ork,; iniriauvc. T h... tl lk 01 tht: ;"lar) I:i ra !l1il1~l ' ioined faculty voice special is, CIX,<.:;'·.;u! ~I ~.nt i.s " Perform ance in Ihl" :: hI Phil] i'(J!11 IF on in crc:lting Interior DOL Students Ct'nrtF'~" A Nt?'.'_ \Vork" L aboratory.' werc In\' ~lh ' cJ in every a S rh~ {~ t from: contributing tu the text: so und. lighting and costume design; ~tagL' OSC I hl":tl lc' h a ~ ,I long historv 111 ( (Hirai Ohio of management: anti runnillf'. crew. WIldI \\'a~ unique featuri ng J1(~ \\ work." b ~ ' t;l!IlO US pluyv, righl';. ahuti! !hi, pr".ic tt \ \i\S the pro cess, Acting facuhy inelud ing our ow n Jaruc I hur ber. Tbi" comm it­ de:;igru:J ligh t, using the moving light tl'ei!nolo gy mcnt ill new works extend, buc], 01 \ least 10 1'170 ,m,i li ghllflg iacuhy acted in ihe producuon. Such wiill tilt' ',\ orl d premiere (If The Night Thoreau cn,b~' O \ n, dc rnonsrraic uur ability YO usc our Sj lt? 1II ill Jail by Jerome Lawrence and H.,h c! ! E. production season a, a laboratorv for experiment Jxc !authors of inh erit the Wi" d and :I unti« and development. .tfd /I! ,.). drrecred hy Dr. Roy Bowen. In audition. cal.' h ':ear the Department (.".I IL\ huralc~ with the ' l l H ~ creruion of :\c'.\' \\ ·( , r k~ (T,nl::,S froi u a collaho­ TlwrtlCl Hou xc tIl bri ll!! a pr,Klicillgpl a) \·, ;'ighl r J~ i \ \.' r nl \.: (' =, ~ in \\ hi...+~ artisr-, f'nlrn thl' entire­ \\ i:h national S l~n u rl' t., campu s C1 t1J the Columhus , p';Uf!l' l1 or theatre productron 11'0 ; k IDgl'thcr as li lt ' ~'(']j1m\ll\j i'c' "aut m-r.". n ne C\il'llptC i-; loni:,!hl\ performance "I' L.n. oin mon ( '1" .1', w hich had its first \\'l)jb hul' In :-[1rlil); 1qq7 t h ~' .leparune nt featured a ground­ presentation in Spring 2UOI..;\ luturc example i ~ hrcJl..illg "e\\ Work , !I:/(.I';" " DOl'. <1" pan l)f il\ .i J}·.! Y ! ' l l ' II'ork-: t \ \ 'I 1 IWIY product iOlls ne;lleJ 0) r roduC.'!10n ~ ca:' (ln . Th( ~ canH: t P t.~ c l h ~ , rqr ;')L'\,l"'ri..d graJu all' a Cli ng SWc!,;l1b whie'll wilt be presclltcJ in imp"n:l m r~a ,,,,n s ; thc his!llly (>f n,\\' phn JC\'d"p­ l ill' 1\ j !l le r quark i',

197 L~slev Ferris CMir 02lniel Boord Vidr.-n/Ac:l lngJOII e1..11lloQ ?: Stratos Constantlnldh. c.: rll l1 :l~ m 7iQ~i Hi"'\l:()' l I1el"3h.lrc NenaCouch r.\.rnlm of rht: la"' feO( ~ at\:2'cr. ThEla4re Rese3'ch In"tIl1J1~ Dan Gray Call our Box Office for tickets: 292-2295 Ilesrce!"lt St:ellic Df!9 iQf'lE!'" Bruco Hermann Acbng:Olroc1,"\l ELEKTRA A.nthony Hill A Vers ion by Ezra PovnrJ ~ thsr ory Literature Crkic.lsm October 31 - November 18. 2001 Valerie lucas ~ H,'!uory l ilfll fal '.., El Cl'Itlr.tsrn UNCOMMON CLAY Dennis A.. Parker Devised and Directed by Jeanine Thompson Resice..,t C otoh..1nf'!: UetioliJn~1 C/J November 7 ·18, 2001 Thomas Postlewait "tJ Histol~ Lit~H'alU(e Crit ICIsm Joy Reilly SOBERING tHOUGHTS c KI!Otor; 111er.,b,.re Cf r1 i cj!s ~ By Jason Kravits Ct) Sue Ott Rowlands Tour to Middle and High Schools A cllf 't;:J "Oi(~C1I F'9 Public Performances :>.. Maureen Ryan January 26. 2002 Vo lc o ' A.c l l n 9 ! O r 1! c.; "I1~ ~ Mark Shanda Dtv'ision 5t1'eat ~ A S!l.{J[;iQle ~81lr Residor"l1 Temme'" L) 1I~W I By Steve Tesich tJ Eslhar 8.th Sullivan February 13 - March 2. 2002 H i~'ory lile l &lllI'e C,'ocl.r.m Mary Tarantino ~ The ShUt'JRuluor~!Ii 1I.. lida, REt &l\1ent I ig t'1.I II".g Oftb"Jner Jeanine Thompson By Thomas Dekker Mo~~....~ nl~Actlno : o; (et:I, ng February 27 - March 2 . 2002 ~ Patrick Tuite ...-.. l Hl00 ~""' l ni S1<.lor \ 1]"' \ "\ ,-" \\ :11" " , ct Alan Woods Cre ated and performed by Kathleen Gonzales and CD tiJ:5!O' Y Llrel'BIUte CrltJ('lim:DuN.1tr Dr A llvson Rosen Thtl LaWrl:nce a n~ l ee TRr March 5-9 , 2001 s Malt Hazard BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH l Nj nl"'9 StAl iCJ Sl , pc""~ r =::3 Sonja Kalam2l11·Eldar Performance hDub" Poet AdfTI ln lf. t(RII' '' ~ I\ t>li i ~tdnl April 19 21 . 2002 CI) JamellKnapp C Proc ...( Ucn COOrUlflilhlf ¥OACELAIN Elizabeth langford By Chav Yew \ lr.r:: er9riJ :hlli 1~ S':'(;ltl ldf)' Chad Mahan April 30 - May 4. 2002 S t:tS' ~' ~ St uuio ~~. pC r V I ~ c:r Val Pennington Th9 Memory of' Water The Lawrenc e anrlll)e 1RI By Shelayh Stephenson JoS. F. Scharrer May 6-24, 2002 EkJ. 011<:. MdMQ&f laura Sipe GrOJ cl..:Jlt:' ~Iu d i t:: l:i Svt;ltr':ary SAINT lOAN OF THE SI'

198 661 ~:::::--._------I_~IIlI.II_I&•."""""S'"""""".;>.",S'...!,,,,,;,Zloo:tlloo ...._ IIIIIIl....H Pogeno a.l1t~0iIpaD • fridu)'. NI,..emlJt'r 9,2001 ·Sculptor's story a tired rant

. .,.....tQl .. moldingandshaping them Katie Whitlock's frequent use of • ForThe Dispatch TatjaN Loogerot's costumes for wind, rain and tlwnder brings nature the C1audels. white 8hIfts and 8eYfl!Te Into the sometimes static studio and Maybe if Camille Claude] wm:! a black dresses, help unify the six ver­ asylmn scenes, though the frequent more famil1ar figure, her !!tOry 810llll of the sculptor, while ttle COli­ use of chamber music sometimes wouldn't have had to be sculpted tuming for the ensemble - wire hus­ overpowers the"actlll'S' voices into such a familiarshape. tles, half-masks and powdered wigs The pBSSDgeS of dance and mime UncomrPlhl'l Qay, a new produc­ - adds a welcome toochof whimsy. hint at the complexities of Claudel's tion by the Ohio ~"txte Universi1y Kristopher Jones' Iight.ing, which experience, It'S unfortunate that. the Theatre Department, uses intriguing emphasizes murky reds and stw:k flat-footed words Thompson has se­ st:.aging to teU the 8tDlY oC French whites, he1p5 shape the unsettling lected box those mysteries up so seulptorClandel (1864.1943). mood of the piece. Sound designer neatly. Dance, mime and a few spoken passages taken from the letters of Claude], her lover Rodin, her family members and others, tell the story. What emerges,however, is an old­ stYle femJnlst fable of vietimhood. In wltichthe primary villain is C1audel's trnditional mother. "Mother always told me it was forbidden to be anything other than a wife, a mother, a DWl," Claudel's character repeats often. "To be an artist W!lS considered disrespectful, improper, insane," In Jeanine Thompson's earnest play, which would benefit from some tightening, Claudfll is played by six actresses. They occupy the stage si­ multaneously, passing a scalf from one to the next to signify which peri ­ od of'ClaudeJ's Jlte Isbeing depleted Four o! them gesrure expansively and speaJc in loud voices that soon growmoootooous, More effective is the oldest C1au­ del (Christina Sidebottom), who has spent 30 years in an insane asylum. She sits quietl,y at the 8ide of 1he stage, commenting on her life. AlBa effective ill the nearly voiceless aculptor Claudel (KaJhJecn Goo­ zales), who stays on a raised plat­ Ionn shapinga cIa,y figure as the ac­ tion proceeds. Kendrick Hardy's Rodin is rather imub9t.antla1, while Jennifer Man­ vich has an earthy energy as RodIn's commoo-Iaw wife, Rose. The performance is saved from excessive didactism by mysterious, wordless jl8ll!l8ges in which members of the large ensemble cast strike and hold poses, while one or more of' the Claudels move about

200 IOl THE LANrnRN ARTS Friday, November 9,2001 5 'Uncommon Clay' tells story of French artist

ByPIIIIILlllclefeld Meier has thc IMk of playing paekaze sent from her mother. Lantem arts writer the soppoTling role of Claudel's Her mOI.h"r Lnui•• Clandel, brother throughout the lifespan of played bv Sara Bo~eon. resents The story of early 20th century tbe sculpturess. He did A excellent Camille because she never became artiel Camille Claudel is brought job of oginlrhi. character to fit the i.I l°t.Tadilionttl woman." Borgeson's W life by director ond writer Jea· personality to the charaetcr's nge, performance was somcwhnt lack­ nine Thompson io u 90·minute A, the .tory move. forW fUlI ing. The actress never broueht out play 'Uncommon Clay." The play Claude! i. incarcerated by her the hatred and env)' the mother describes the triumphs ond trial. fumilyat lbe urging of her former should feel towards her robcllious of Claudel's artistic career. lover and teacber Au~u.ta Rodin daughter. "The phyeicality of 'Uncommon (Kcnderick Hardyl. Naomi Hats­ The .ingle .•et features a larKe Clay' Ielis Camille's story and felt had tile formidable task to windowsurrounded by n brownish expresses the tranefurrnative portray Cnudel through this diffi­ background and a small landing to beauty. of her sculptural work," ellll time but .bn did so very COn­ the riehl, which i. occupied by 0 oN Tholllp!lOn said . vincingly. ""ulpling Camille (Kathleen Gon­ N The story hegins in Villeneuve, Thompsou took much or tbe aales) throullhout the play. France with • young CIDUdcl script from Claudel's thoughts Tili, plB)' requires a lot ofimag­ [Allyson Rosen) and her brother during her incarceration. inal ian 00 the part of th. audio Paul (Jeremv Mei,'r) and follow. "The m of uRing motions 10 por­ the play follows Claude! through while she was institutionulieed," tray action, . .such as sculpting, her tife, there are si. difTerent Thornpson said. and making ;1 ""oy for the audi­ actresscs who play the part of During the portrayal of enceto folio.. tb. action: Claudel. CI:ludel's lncsrceration the music, "Uncommon Clav" will run Each had to play the "arne effects and the ensemble Creal~ a with show tilO eo at Ii p.m, for the character bUI they had to ploy dnrk and dreary atmosphere suit­ shows toduy And Tuasday-Thurs­ eAch part of her life differenlly, ing the moodof the t ime. Hatsfcl! day, and at 4 p.ru. on Nov. 18. Thompsonsaid. R06cn dirlu gnod did a wondorfuljob of portraying a Tickets OTe 512 ior IlpnAtaladmis­ COURTESy OF OSU ARTS job of bringing out the youthful woman, once proud and carefr•• , sion and $6.50 for students . For Jeanine Thompson. the plays director.(cenler) works On thefinallnuchesberore ttle yesterday'S open ingof Uncom· exuberance and Ignorance one for· . who hecome. beaten down until more information coli the hox monClay. Uncommon Clay, which examines thetroubled lifeof French sculptress Camille Claudel. ruosthrough Noy, gets 8..9 they get older. all she cares about is the next officeat 292·2295. lB. For tickets. call the boxofficeat 292·2295. £Ol

IDOl '~I laqmaAoN anazvo a;]vWA uvuuao mOl] Ma~AalI :H XION3.ddV iIIOlembcr IS, 2001 GERMA!' VILLAGE. GAZEm

_.-.~----- ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS,-----­ Sculptor's life dramatized with mix oftheater, movement 8y DENNIS THOMPSON ncr, it traces through word sympathy. sculpling while Ihe action Iymoving and creative piece movement As Rodi n. Kendcril:k swirls beneath her, filled with striking creative Stl",.,bD~ .v, ...., 1iV"", ( f;rv and her develop­ ment as all artist. collabora­ Hardv is authoritat ive in Check out how actually touches and visual surprises. tion and affair with Auguste manner and movement, wrapping a woman ina cloth hc Ohio State University Rodin, and the emutional un­ thouah less so when he can hesensual. Or the clever The Ohio Slaw llniversitv Theatre Department T scnlcdness lhJl led 10her in­ 5pcaks. way in which small childrcl' l}rpartnrenl ,,!rhealre 'J Dn ­ mourns an unconventional stitulional i7alion, Scenic desicner Dan Gra\' aredepicted. Orhow SCleral common Clay fQtllinllf\ stunnjn~ piece of theairicali­ Thompson effectively has funned a'cavernous red people can personify a Ihroll~h Sunday in Dra~ [yo .....,.,.., ..... --"'"" SWings our moods, She leads clay sInge indiGllil'e llf an mound ofetav, VIIi/in's Thurhl'r Theatre. Uncommon (Jarisawork r ur s r t c us from the exuberance llf art lsi's studio with a men­ TIle deliberate pacing ma)' Fnr 11101'(' inJOrlllci/l'tIIl cul! designed and directed byfac­ vomh, 10 the i\I1isl in rull sirous rear window , Katit lull some. RUlll1is isa flu id- 192-2295. ulty member jeanine Thomp­ bloom. 10 thedeadening chill Whitlock's sound design is --~-----. _.- - - -_._----­ - IVo son . Trained in dance. she REVIEW ofthe asylum. vivid and piercingly haunt­ ~ has created a piece oftheater Allyson Rosen, Eleni Pa­ ing. grounded ill movement and palconardos. Angeles There are man v interest­ spectacle. ClII\' involves the life of Romero. Naomi Hatsfelt and ing, subtle choices, She has also taken theater the i9th-century sculptor Christina Sidebottom portray Camille as a sculptor. students and taught !hem to Camille Claudel Carnille in all the stages of played by Kathleen Gonza­ move like dancers. Inanunconventional man- her life with passiun and les. i~ constantly onstage ~oz Pose in front of fireplace . Scene 12

The Burghars pose from Scene 14.

206 The Asylum, Scene 14

Final poses with all the Camilles. Scene ISb

207

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