GRAND JACQUES. Southampton to 30 January.

Southampton

GRAND JACQUES
by Alain Bezu, Phillipe Davenet from words by Jacques Brel and music by Jacques Brel, Gerard Jouannest, Jean Corti.

Nuffield Theatre to 30th January 2002
Runs 1hr 30min. No interval

TICKETS 0203 8067 1771
Review Mark Courtice 30 January

An irresistible taste of France and a chance to understand a hero of the French cabaret.Three men on a darkly lit, bare stage. 2 play the music and talk, and the third, in black, sings and talks. We are in a foreign country here, not just because the Nuffield’s partner theatre Theatre Des Deux Rives from Rouen has taken over the stage for three nights, not just because the company speak French, but because we are being asked to think about art and genius as well as celebrating a Gallic hero. This is an intrguing evening as, out of the gloom, we begin to catch glimpses of the real Jacques Brel.

Alain Bezu leads Philippe Davenet and Bertrand Lemarchand in beautifully arranged versions (for piano and accordion) of a dozen of the songs - many redolent of the misty Belgian flatlands from which Brel came, while all three men plunder the Brel oeuvre for quotations about performance, genius and love.

Brel was sardonic, passionate, clever and totally unmoved by sentimentality - but moved by life, love and the sheer hell of things. By the end of the short evening I was very glad to have met him.

Most English audiences, I guess, know little of Brel. He was actually Belgian and (I was astonished to learn) was buried in the Marquises Islands next to Gaugin. Bezu believes Brel was as special for his stage skill as for his songs and so, while not attempting to sound like Brel, he gives us a real idea of the performances that Bezu reckons were “conceived like a boxing match”, combining physicality with perfect timing and a wry sense of humour with a commitment to the underdog.

This is a foreign show, despite the first verse of each song being shown in translation and Gerard Dallez’ charmingly interpolated translations of the great man’s thoughts making it easy for the non French speaker to understand. An English theatre would have done the whole thing differently with more speed, more action, more theatricality. What happens here is very French and as irresistible as choucroute and saucisson or Camembert to those of us who want a real taste of France.

Cast:
Alain Bezu
Phillipe Davenet
Bertrand Lemarchand

Director: Alain Bezu
Arrangements: Francois Rauber Artistic Consultant: Gerard Dallez

2002-02-24 09:35:41