#and so I started by translating the first part of what would become 'Einmal Noch' which I had started writing many years ago

[j-ellyfish]

You are the QUEEN of Spaus 💜

Waaahhhh thank you!! Q///w///Q

[thexfridax]

Recap/thoughts on L’Étang

Performed on 6th of June 2021, Holland Festival, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam / Rabozaal

I recently had the chance to attend Der Teich / The Pond / L’Étang written by Robert Walser and adapted by Gisèle Vienne at the Holland Festival 2021 in Amsterdam. The main reason I went was to experience the absolute force that is Adèle Haenel, but I was also intrigued about how she would interact with Ruth Vega Fernandez on stage (who I only knew from the Swedish film Kiss me / Kyss mig).

After a number of performances were postponed and subsequently cancelled in France, I wasn’t quite sure whether this one would actually go ahead. Luckily, the Covid-19 situation had improved sufficiently for a live audience to attend, albeit with a limited number of people.

Switzerland had hosted the world premiere of the play in early May, so a couple of reviews were already out (check out #L’Etang on @mlleclaudine’s blog, she has translated some of these reviews). I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect though other than French avant-garde theatre (= confusion 😊).

** SPOILERS **

The stage was dark, when the audience entered. You could spot some creepy shapes, some were clearly mannequins, but I somehow thought the actresses were already on stage, too. Watching us. (They weren’t.)

When the lights went on, a guy appeared and gently carried the mannequins off stage.

EXTREMELY loud electronic music followed, and in robo-walked Adèle as Fritz, and behind her Ruth as the mother (nameless, only her last name -Mrs Marti- is mentioned in the OG play).

They continued to robo-walk across the stage (somewhat synchronised), until everyone found their spot, very much apart from each other. You could clearly hear their breathing throughout this movement (also in the latter stages of the play).

Not much else was on stage but a bed with random clothes draped over it, and some other bits and bobs (for Fritz). There was also a wig and an ashtray (for the mother, alluding to her femme fatale status).

Adèle started to speak (in French), setting the scene for a boy who is somewhat disregarded by his mother, but longing for her…

FRITZ

Ich möchte fast lieber nirgends mehr sein, als so da sein. Nichts als böse Gesichter. Ist das ein Essen bei Tisch. […] Man darf den Mund nicht aufmachen, ohne fürchten zu müssen, den Anstand zu verletzen. Was nützt so ein Anstand? Der Paul, der darf wohl reden, der darf sich alles erlauben. An dem ist alles schön, artig, recht, nett. […] Ich muss ja glauben, nur er sei der Sohn seiner Mutter, und die Mutter habe keinen zweiten Sohn neben ihm. Nichts kann ich recht machen, ich mag mich anstellen, wie ich will. […] Wenn nur wer wüsste, wie es in mir drin aussieht. Wenn die Mutter mir nur einmal ins Herz schauen könnte. Vielleicht wäre sie erstaunt, vielleicht würde sie dann sehen, dass ich sie auch noch ein wenig gern hab. […] (Extract from Der Teich, Insel Bücherei Edition)

I’d rather not exist anymore than be like this. Only evil faces. What a meal. […] One isn’t allowed to open one’s mouth without being afraid of violating propriety. What’s the point of this kind of propriety? Paul, he is allowed to talk, he can do anything. Everything about him is lovely, good, proper, nice. […] I’m starting to believe that he is his mother’s only son, and the mother doesn’t have another one aside from him. I can’t do anything right, doesn’t matter whatever I do. […] If only anyone knew, how it looks inside of me. If the mother only looked into my heart. Maybe she would be surprised, maybe she would see that I still like her a bit. (My translation)

J’aimerais encore mieux être nulle part, plutôt qu’ici. … On n’a pas le droit d’ouvrir la bouche, de peur de blesser les convenances. À quoi ça sert, ces convenances ? Paul, lui, il a le droit de parler. Lui, il peut tout se permettre. En lui tout est beau, bien, correct, gentil. […] Je vais finir par croire qu’il est le seul fils de sa mère, et que la mère, elle n’a pas eu de deuxième fils en plus de lui. Rien de ce que je fais n’est bien, quoi que je fasse. […] Si seulement quelqu’un savait comment je suis à l’intérieur. Si ma mère pouvait regarder une seule fois dans mon coeur. Peut-être qu’elle serait étonnée, peut-être qu’elle verrait alors que moi aussi j’ai encore un peu d’amour pour elle. […] (Translated by Lucie Taïeb, in: Pièce (dé)montée : L'Etang, Gwenaëlle Hebert)

While Adèle talked, voicing multiple characters with ease (i.e. Fritz and his sister Klara), Ruth slowly walked around, and at one point intervenes in the quarrel between the siblings. She was a threatening presence, and spiteful to both of her children in the first act. Throughout the play you could see how scared Fritz was of his mother (the look of dread on Adèle’s face was shocking).

A dream like scene came next, where it wasn’t entirely clear (to me) what was happening. Fritz seemed to be dreaming of his family, being conflicted, laughing, angry, moaning … a disturbingly visceral and messy scene, where the characters all merge.

(NB: I may not remember the exact sequence of scenes or who played whom, as I was slightly stunned by this point..)

Meanwhile, Ruth transformed into the ‘good and kind’ mother of one of Fritz’s sickly friends, which made it even clearer how much Fritz suffers from the neglect of his own mother, and how isolated he is.

Maybe also by choice:

FRITZ

[…] Ich bin gern allein. Da kommen einem die Gedanken. Da stört einen niemand. – Mir ist immer, als hätte ich irgendwo etwas vergessen. Ich weiß, es ist nichts, und doch plagt es mich. Was kann es nur sein? Nichts? Da hab ich gut reden! Es ist was, aber das Dumme ist, ich hab es eben vergessen. Ich will dem Sächelchen nachgehn. Ich will zu meinem Platz im Wald gehn, vielleicht fliegt es mir dort wie ein Schmetterling zu. Warum muss man eigentlich denken? Man muss, es zwingt einen. Das ist so dumm, dass man was muss. Man sollte nichts müssen! Aber da hab ich wieder gut reden. Komm, Fritz, wir beide gehen. Ich bin doch nicht ganz allein. Der Fritz ist Fritzens Kamerad. Ich bin mir selbst mein bester Freund. – Was ich auch alles wissen muss. Eigentlich ist es zum Lachen. Aber im Wald will ich darüber nachdenken, was ich tun könnte, dass ich der Mutter – – – (as above)

[…] I like to be on my own. You can think. Nobody disturbs you. – It always seems to me, as if I had forgotten something. I know, it’s nothing, but it still haunts me. What can it be? Nothing? It’s all very well of me to say that. There is something, but the silly thing is that I forgot about it. I will look into the matter. I will go to my spot in the woods, maybe it will come to me like a butterfly. Why is it that one actually has to think? One must, one is forced to do so. It’s so silly that one has to. One shouldn’t have to do anything! But again, look who’s talking. Come on, Fritz, let’s go. I’m not quite alone. Fritz is Fritz’s companion. I am my own best friend. – Why must I know everything. It’s actually funny. But I will think about it in the woods, as to what I’m going to do, so that mother – – – (as above)

[…] J’aime bien être seul. Quand on est seul, c’est là que les pensées viennent. Personne ne vous dérange. J’ai toujours l’impression d’avoir oublié quelque chose quelque part. Je sais que ce n’est rien, pourtant ça me tourmente. Qu’est-ce que ça pourrait être ? Rien ? Facile à dire ! Non, il y a bien quelque chose, mais, bêtement, j’ai justement oublié quoi. Je vais suivre cette piste. Je vais aller dans la forêt, dans mon coin à moi, et peut-être que, là-bas, ça me reviendra ! Mais pourquoi il faut toujours penser ? On est obligé, c’est plus fort que nous. C’est tellement bête, d’être obligé. On ne devrait être obligé à rien. Facile à dire. Allez, on y va. Je ne suis pas complètement seul, après tout. Je suis mon propre meilleur ami. Et toutes ces questions que je pose. En fait ça me donne envie de rire. Mais dans la forêt, on va réfléchir à ce que je pourrais faire pour que ma mère... (as above)

And the plot thickens afterwards, his siblings become convinced that Fritz is going to drown himself in the titular pond (he hinted at it in a grand speech, according to his brother). The brother then chases after Fritz, urged by his sister to do the right thing.

Adèle is fully immersed in this scene, first voicing the siblings, then transforming back into Fritz, who is somewhat exhilarated by his own prank (she intones a sound or two, which makes me think that those singing lessons were quite successful). All to figure out if his mother cares for him or not.

It kinda worked. When Fritz returns home, he finds his distraught sister and parents. The mother sees her son for the first time as a real person (the father is angry). She calls him a man, and they temporarily connect as equals (the mother-child dynamic being interrupted). She wants this understanding to be kept as secret from the other siblings, to which Fritz agrees.

The siblings re-enact the fake drowning scene, Fritz is represented by a knife, Paul by a fork, and Klara by a little spoon. The story ends without the parents being included. (In the OG play, the mother observes this scene, and is quite moved that Fritz has kept his word of not sharing their secret. This is also part of the final act of the OG play.)

In another disturbing and weird scene, Fritz is (invisibly) choked by someone, Adèle pants and spits, but it’s not clear who the perp is (I thought, the father, but who knows). The mother(?) is standing by when this happens, and then leaves, repulsed.

At the end you can see Fritz observing his mother approaching his empty bed, picking up a pillow and holding it. Not a real closure for their characters, but it was a tender moment in a very compact and rather violent play.

Adèle seemed to have voiced the majority of the characters (children and adults), changing her voice accordingly to make them sound different in the same scene. She was often seen on the floor, stretched out, being in agony or another state of mind (or spitting). It was an intense and unsettling performance, but not to the extent that I wanted to leave the theatre 😊

Ruth did voice fewer characters (mainly the adults, maybe also one of the children). She cried heavily in one scene (sublime acting!), and by the end of the play her character seemed to have lost all of her harshness. We mostly got to know her through Fritz’s descriptions (or their interactions), she had maybe one monologue of her own (at least in the OG play). But she was omnipresent in Fritz’s mind and also during the play (she only left the stage once before the end), transforming from the devouring to the caring(?) mother. A more restrained, but still very effective performance.

I think, the (spare) use of electronic music and different lighting was in line with Fritz’s turmoil, and it wasn’t distracting from the acting. I was glad that there were subtitles, perfect for non-French speakers – though it didn’t give you a clue which character was speaking. You had to quickly switch from looking at the subs to Adèle or Ruth to figure it out.

All in all, it was great to be back in a theatre, to watch these two (plus Gisèle etc.) finally bring this obscure family drama to life with a vengeance.

I hope to watch the play again in Hamburg (Internationales Sommerfestival 2021, ticket information to be released in mid-June), as there were a lot more things I couldn’t unpack while watching, or even now 😉

Cover picture by @estellehanania Other pictures/video by @thexfridax