Politics, Ethics and Performances | Hélène Cixous and the Théâtre Du
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Politics, Ethics and Performance Anamnesis Anamnesis means remembrance or reminiscence, the collection and re-collection of what has been lost, forgotten, or effaced. It is therefore a matter of the very old, of what has made us who we are. But anamnesis is also a work that transforms its subject, always producing something new. To recollect the old, to produce the new: that is the task of Anamnesis. a re.press series Politics, Ethics and Performance Hélène Cixous and the Théâtre du Soleil Hélène Cixous edited by Lara Stevens re.press Melbourne 2016 re.press PO Box 40, Prahran, 3181, Melbourne, Australia http://www.re-press.org © re.press 2016 The moral rights of the author are automatically asserted and recognized under Australian law (Copyright Amendment [Moral Rights] Act 2000) This work is ‘Open Access’, published under a creative commons license which means that you are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work as long as you clearly attribute the work to the authors, that you do not use this work for any commercial gain in any form whatsoever and that you in no way alter, transform or build on the work outside of its use in normal academic scholarship without express permission of the author (or their executors) and the publisher of this volume. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. For more informa- tion see the details of the creative commons licence at this website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creator: Cixous, Hélène, 1937- author. Title: Politics, ethics and performance : Hélène Cixous and the Théâtre du Soleil / Hélène Cixous ; translated, edited and introduced by Lara Stevens. ISBN: 9780987268211 (paperback) Series: Anamnesis Subjects: Théâtre du Soleil. Theater--Political aspects. Political plays--History and criticism. Art and morals. Experimental theater--France--Paris. Essays. Other Creators/Contributors: Stevens, Lara, translator, editor, writer of introduction. Dewey Number: 792.015 Designed and Typeset by A&R This book is produced sustainably using plantation timber, and printed in the destination market reducing wastage and excess transport. Contents Acknowledgements ix EDITOR & TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION xi Politics, Ethics and Performance xiii Politique, éthique et spectacle: Introduction xxix TRANSLATIONS 1 Macbeth 2 The Irreparable 4 L’irréparable 5 The Castaways of the Fol Espoir (Sunrises) 8 Caught in the Headlights 10 Une sensation de Phare 11 Les Éphémères 18 The Mayflies 20 Les Ephémères 21 The Last Caravanserai (Odysseys) 24 At the Beginning of Our Memories 26 Au commencement de nos mémoires… 27 Our Show 28 Notre spectacle 29 What is a Refugee? Are You a Refugee? 30 Qu’est-ce qu’un réfugié? Êtes-vous un réfugié? 31 v vi Politics, Ethics and Performance Hospitality? 38 L’Hospitalité? 39 Our Hosts 42 Nos hôtes 43 Drums on the Dam 46 Striking Sticks 48 Coups de baguettes 49 Theatre Surprised by Puppets 64 Le Théâtre surpris par les marionnettes 65 And Suddenly, Nights of Awakening 76 A Moment of Conversion 78 Un moment de conversion 79 Our Bad Blood 82 Nos mauvais sangs 83 The City of Perjury or the Awakening of the Erinyes 106 Acknowledging Debts 108 Reconnaissance de dettes 109 The Atreides 122 No Response or the Call of Death 124 Pas de réponse ou l’Appel du Mort 125 The Communion of Misfortunes 142 La Communion des Douleurs 143 The Blow 154 Le Coup 155 The Indiad or the India of their Dreams 168 If you allow me, I am going to speak to you about love… 170 Si vous permettez, je vais vous parler d’amour… 171 The Crime Scene, the Place of Forgiveness 178 Le lieu du crime, le lieu du pardon 179 Contents vii The Terrible and Still Unfinished Story of Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia 188 An Inextinguishable Spark 190 Une étincelle inextinguible 191 Acknowledgements First thanks are due to Hélène Cixous for writing these extraordinary essays and for giving me the opportunity to work with them in translation. Thanks to Denise Varney for introducing me to the work of Hélène Cixous and for being a constant supporter of my work and a dear friend. I am greatly ap- preciative for Bryan Cooke’s insightful suggestions for the introduction, his willingness to spend hours discussing difficult philosophical concepts and, mostly, for his treasured friendship. Thanks are also due to the French Trust Fund at the University of Melbourne and the French Research History Higher Degree Scholarship for their financial support that enabled the field trips to France which pro- vided the backbone of this research and translation opportunity. I am very grateful to Helen Davies and all the donors of the French Trust Fund for their generosity. I would like to thank my three (anonymous) referees for their extensive, incisive and generous comments on both the French and English versions of my Introduction. Their comments have led to many improvements and helped me to avoid several errors. I would also like to thank Natalya Hughes for permission to use her stunning work for the cover of this book. I owe much to Justin Clemens for his infectious enthusiasm and encour- agement for this book as well as his careful and considered editing of it. Thanks also to Paul Ashton for taking on the task of editing the book and for keeping independent presses alive. My deep gratitude also goes out to my friends Elisabeth and Philippe Guilleminot for giving up so much of their time to edit the French introduction. Also to my step-mother (and the most extraordinary linguist I know), Rosemary Benkemoun, who generously de- voted days to nutting out the most difficult passages with me. Finally, to Franck Pendino at the Théâtre du Soleil for his extraordinary patience, re- sponsiveness and helpfulness with this book throughout the entire process. Thanks to my dear family for all their love and support, and mostly to Eddie Paterson who made this translation possible and makes all things in life an adventure and a joy. ix Editor & Translator’s Introduction Politics, Ethics and Performance This collection of essays by writer, philosopher and feminist Hélène Cixous spans twenty-nine years of her writing, thinking and working with the French theatre company the Théâtre du Soleil. The Théâtre du Soleil was founded by Ariane Mnouchkine in 1964 as a radical experimental theatre group. Cixous has been the company’s scriptwriting collaborator and oc- casional dramaturg in devised work since the 1980s, and continues to work with the company today. The essays in this collection reflect on the develop- ment of the Théâtre du Soleil’s unique performance aesthetics and the ethi- cal and political concerns of a theatre company that has been committed to social justice from its inception. The Théâtre du Soleil’s artistic practice is motivated by a 1960s idealism that art can intervene socially and politically and provide a catalyst for real- world change. As the company describes in the program notes to the 1975 production of l’Age d’Or [The Golden Age]: We want to reinvent the rules of the game that unveil daily reality by showing it not as familiar and immutable, but as surprising and trans- formable. This will thus be a theatre directly taken from social reality, which is not mere observation, but rather encouragement to change the conditions in which we live. (in Neuschäfer 2004)1 Since the 1960s, the artists of the Théâtre du Soleil have devised per- formances that respond to national and international political issues using experimental aesthetics that draw upon a range of European and Asian the- atrical traditions. The members of the Théâtre du Soleil have always put their socialist ethos into practice by participating in or leading community activism. In 1973, the company created a short performance work for Michel Foucault’s le Groupe d’Information sur les Prisons (GIP), which sought better prison conditions, and they signed a controversial petition for legalising abortion that was sponsored by Simone de Beauvoir (Miller 2007, 12). Mnouchkine 1. My translation. xiii xiv Editor & Translator’s Introduction also founded l’Association internationale de défense des artistes victimes de la répression dans le monde (AIDA), an organisation dedicated to freeing po- litically persecuted artists. AIDA has produced statements, sit-ins and pub- lic spectacles for artists who are suffering political discrimination or censor- ship. In 1991, Mnouchkine led a 30-day hunger strike to protest the French government’s inaction in the face of the genocide occurring in Bosnia. In 1996 she gave the company’s performance spaces – the Cartoucherie which is located in the Bois de Vincennes on the outskirts of Paris – over to 382 sans papiers who were expelled from their refuge at St. Bernard Church in Paris (Miller 2007, 12). The Théâtre du Soleil are also strongly committed to ed- ucating their large spectator publics about pertinent social issues as well as touring performances to factories and events organised by trade unions so as to make their theatre accessible to all classes of French society. Not only do the essays in this collection respond to the dynamic and so- cially engaged work of the Théâtre du Soleil, but constitute an integral part of the company’s objective to ‘change the conditions in which we live’. They reinforce its broader desire to reveal to spectators the possibility of altering contemporary conditions of inequality and injustice. Prior to her work with the Théâtre du Soleil, Cixous had written several plays, most notably Portrait de Dora [Portrait of Dora] first performed as a radio play in 1972 and on stage in 1976.