Introduction
“Les Veuves“ <tapisserie lyrique> is a dramatic theatre play by French playwright François Billetdoux, which was staged from the 25th of October 1972 at the Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris (running for 50 performances). The play is described as “a dream, a dreamlike universe, an illustration of our fantasies, a perpetual resurgence of an ‘elsewhere’ that waking up dissipates without completely erasing it. It is a dramatic poem on the borders of reality, childhood, death, and the unconscious”. It not only features music by Vangelis, but also a song by German singer Katharina Renn.
Vangelis is credited for the music, but in the absence of recordings it is difficult to verify if Vangelis composed original music for this play. At the same time however there is no reason to doubt it.
An early version of “Les Veuves” was first aired as a radio play on the 26th of June 1972 at the Auditorium 102 of the Maison de la Radio. A few weeks later, on the 18th of July it was staged as part of the Festival de Vaison-la-Romaine-Carpentras in co-production with France Culture-O.R.T.F. A renewed version was then performed from the 25th of October 1972 at the Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris. In 1974 the play moved to London, where the Round House theatre staged another 10 performances with the help of the French Association of Artistic Action from the 29th of May. Finally, in 1981 a radio adaptation directed by Georges Gravier was broadcast on France Culture.
François Billetdoux (1927-1991), who wrote and produced the play as well as performed on stage, worked with Vangelis before on Frédéric Rossif’s documentary “Cantique Des Créatures” (1970) and “Georges Mathieu, Ou La Fureur d'Être” (1971). Billetdoux would regularly work with French director Frédéric Rossif as a writer and narrator, for instance on his wildlife documentary series “L’Apocalypse Des Animaux” (1973) and “L’Opéra Sauvage” (1976).
A year earlier François Billetdoux and Vangelis also worked together on the play “Ne M’Attendez Pas Ce Soir” (1971), which in style and performance is very much related to “Les Veuves”.
Credits
- Title: Les Veuves
- Year: 1972
- Country: France
- Produced by François Billetdoux and Michel-Jean Robin
- Screenplay by François Billetdoux
- Music by Vangelis Papathanassiou and Alain Bouchaux, Bernard Baschet et François Baschet
- Vocal by Kathatina Renn
- Sound by Madeleine Sola and Nicole Prat.
- Decors by Roger Maily and Jacques Voyet.
- Shamane puppets by Jacques Voyet.
- Costumes by Joelle Loucif and Jacques Voyet.
Cast
- François Billetdoux: L'Oncle Rouge et Or
- Virginie Billetdoux: Marie-Châtaigne
- Douchka: Petite-Misère
- Monique Fabre: Chrysalide
- Catherine Humbert, Huguette Maillard, Annick Nozati, Judy Rosen: Les Crapaudines
- Isabelle Ball, Anne Bertholon, Maryse Borrini, Yves Borrini, Mathias Depinoy, Jean-Pierre Mathieu, Michel-Jean Robin, Boris Tissot: Les Manipulateurs
Media
Unfortunately there are no known recordings of either the play or the music used in the play.
Synopsis
“This breathtaking theatrical experience fuses sound, movement, and the tangible substance of the plastic arts into a metaphysical sensation. The music is an observation upon the lyric dialogue, while the dialogue echoes the haunting commentary of the music. Each element in the play is both strophe and antistrophe to the other, a permutation which reflects the theme of the play. One of the most fascinating aspects of this progression is the use of larger-than-life marionettes who actually play the widows as dual roles with the performers who manipulate them. The movements, thoughts, and emotions of the manipulators permeate the dolls—they react and initiate as though they live. But it is an illusion, they are only the shadows thrown by real people. The brilliance of the actors and actresses who manipulate these figures is impressive, for they literally seem to occupy the lifeless bodies. This is in itself a unique representation of the art of acting : the animation of a rag and a bone and a hank of hair. The player is simultaneously completely detached from the character, and yet completely possessed by it. Poussière, the only male child in the village of rich widows, nieces, and servant girls, is also a puppet—thus life and death are idtntical twins, each is independent of the other, but relies on the other for existence. Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust. The nieces send for Uncle Red and Gold to save the ailing child, inevitably he too must become a shadow so that the substance, of the future may be formed. Olivier Hussenot plays Uncle Red and Gold with a sharp definition and crystal clarity. The intellectual honesty of the work is revealed by his fine uncluttered style. Douchka, Monique Fabre, and Virginie Billetdoux play the nieces with extreme grace, charm and beauty. Jacques Voyet’s Shamane Marionettes are fantastic, perfectly staged by Michel-Jean Robin, and manipulated/acted by exceptional artists. The music, which hangs in the air and remains in the memory long after the play is over, is by Vangelis Papathanassiou, and played by the Baschet Brothers. François Billetdoux is the genius who conceived the whole production, which is partly in the most beautifully spoken French, but mostly in the universal language of art.”
Review by E. Victor in "The Tablet", June 8th 1974.
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