French actors Patrick Grenouilleau (Henry), Catherine Long (Marie) and Me (Writer)
As I started getting my show "Unsung/Inconnue" ready to present at the Château de La Napoule, I wondered -
How different would it would be to develop and
present perform a play in France than in the US?
I found out.
REHEARSALS
My show was only one hour long. We were performing it twice in English, twice in French. It was a "First Look" - so minimal staging and on-book.
For something so "simple," I was surprised at how much time it took to be audience-ready.
I'm used to getting a presentation like this ready in anything from zero hours (a cold read) to a full day (6 hrs, then the show).
I haven't tallied up the hours. But I spent most of every work day (which includes weekends for me) for 2.5 months on rewrites, rehearsals, more rewrites, travel-time, reblocking after new rewrites, promotion etc. Basically, I did nothing else.
Yes, part of this was because it was in two languages - so almost like two different shows.
But there were challenges specific to the south of France.
The American performers, Lillian Palmer and John Garland, came from Nice. Getting to the château could take up to 90 minutes one way.
And Nice is not New York - or even Paris in terms of English-speaking talent. Lillian has theatre experience, but John does not. And both are primarily singers (great ones!) so they needed more time to get comfortable with the lines and putting it on its feet. Thank goodness for their hard work and game attitudes!
The French actors were more seasoned. They've been semi-professional actors for eons, have been doing shows together in the same companies for 20+ years. they worked super hard, both in rehearsals with me and on their own (super gung-ho). They could do that because they're both retired - the Americans are young and still working - and live near each other.
Sidebar: there are lots of very good non-professional actors in France. My theory is they have more time to act, since the average job is less demanding and includes benefits. So people have more time to rehearse and perform.
2nd sidebar: "amateur" in French means both a non-professional and a lover of the art. From "aimer." To love.
3rd sidebar: I was shocked when Catherine told me her acting troupe allots nine months get a show ready. NINE MONTHS?!
Someone else said the same thing.
I'm going to have to dig a bit deeper into this. 9 months for even professional productions??
STAGING
Since this was a "First Look," it didn't make sense to memorize the script. It was going to change after every rehearsal or presentation.
The French actors wanted to use music stands to hold the binders.
The Americans didn't.
I was happy to make them both happy.
But as a result, I ended up having to block the two versions very differently.
American Marie, binder in hand, could move down the room while pointing out artworks.
French Marie, with her music stand, could not.
This ended up being more work - but also very interesting. I had to block the same script different ways.
It was fascinating how the French and American versions of the characters were starting to feel different. Because how they used their bodies, interacted - and of course, because French feels very different.
John Garland and Lillian Palmer encourage the audience to sing along - "Smile, smile, smile!"
THE SONGS
Since the French actress didn't feel comfortable singing English songs in English, I sang the songs. As "La Voix de Marie." Again, I was surprised - because it worked!
But this "to sing or not to sing" ended up changing the character of Marie.
The American Marie - who sang - ended up feeling much more forceful. More...American.
LENGTH
The château really wanted the piece to clock in at one hour. That's the max their visitors could tolerate.
I worried the the French version would be too long, since in general, the French language requires more words to say things than English.
This one-hour limit was a toughie.
My original piece was almost two hours long.
I cut and cut and cut.
I got the English version to an hour at a table read.
At the first French table read, I held my breath. How much more would I have to cut?
Nothing!
Turns out, the French talked faster.
A happy surprise.
AUDIENCES
I was psyched that both French and Anglophone audiences really loved it. I feared the French would love it less. Not true.
That said, the audiences were split about the content:
Some folks wanted to hear more about the art.
Some wanted to focus on the story of Marie and Henry.
This difference of opinion didn't fall along lines of nationality.
It was more about whether they'd been to the château before and had already seen the art.
Makes sense.
Going forward - how to satisfy everyone?
Also - pricing was tricky.
In France, many sites are government-supported, to some extent. So they have low entry fees (as low as €5).
We needed to charge more to pay the actors. A lot more. €20 per person.
For French visitors, well - that was a disincentive.
American and other foreign visitors were less resistant.
PROMOTION
I know how to reach an audience in the States.
BUT IN FRANCE?
I don't know many people here (yet). Especially not in the South of France.
The ones I do know live in Nice - pretty far to come for a one-hour show. Though some did - bless their hearts!
And the theatre is great at promo - but they don't know theatre.
So I had to do promo videos - which took a ton of time. Because I'm spoiled by theaters that do them for me!
Ah well, great skills to have :)
BOTTOMLINE
My experience creating a piece on both Americans and French was incredibly rich. Each cast was impressive in its own way. Audiences loved both.
Onward!
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