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Sunday, September 18, 2011

theater Théatre du Rêve gets très site-specific at Underground

Posted by Andrew Alexander on Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 12:03 PM

Liz Hartnett performs in Microfictions at Underground Atlanta.
  • Andrew Alexander
  • Liz Hartnett performs in "Microfictions" at Underground Atlanta.
Atlanta's Théatre du Rêve in cooperation with France's Dérézo theater company presented Microfictions, a free public site-specific performance at Underground Atlanta this weekend on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon as a part of Elevate/Atlanta, a two-month-long city-sponsored series of public art works and performances designed to help breathe some life back into Underground.

Anne-Sophie Erhel (seen at the top of the parking deck there) performs in More, More, More. A speaker (not pictured) was placed on the sidewalk below as spectators and passers-by listened in on her rather despairing take on sex.
  • Andrew Alexander
  • Anne-Sophie Erhel (seen at the top of the parking deck) performs in "More, More, More." An audio-speaker (not pictured) was placed on the sidewalk below so spectators and passers-by could listen in on her despairing take on sex.
Spectators met by the fountain, which had been drained of water and contained a live band. Seven tour guides held signs with names of monologues—”Coward Cops” or “Crash” or “Our Pleasure in Life” and so on. Audience members chose one and then were led to a site. One monologue was set in a (very busy) barber shop and one in an empty bar. A female character spoke about the death of her husband from the inside of a vendor's cart decked out like a funeral cart, and in “More, More, More” a woman gave her despairing take on sex from the top of a parking deck as spectators (and passers-by) listened via a speaker placed on the street five stories below. After watching a monologue at a site, spectators returned to the fountain where they could listen to the band while they waited for another tour guide. The seven monologues (all performed in English) were based on chapters from the French novel Microfictions by Régis Jauffret. Jauffret's 2007 “novel” is comprised of 500 short monologues, many of which were inspired by his habit of eavesdropping in on the ramblings of colorful talkers in public places around Paris.

Although Elevate/Atlanta has been the subject of some recent criticism and debate, this particular event was an unqualified success: It was an object lesson in how wonderfully effective and engaging site-specific public art can be. It was exciting both to the people who had shown up to participate and to passers-by who were often stopped in their tracks by the monologues or else asked by one of the guides if they'd like to “come see some free theater.” A diverse group of spectators briefly became an energized, vibrantly morphing community, and Underground became a fascinating place to explore.

Washington DC recently hosted a similar Microfictions event. The behind-the-scenes video of that production will give some idea of how the Microfiction trend works.

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Thanks for the review, Andrew! We had a great time working on this show, and are very happy with the results. It was a magical experience, bringing a new perspective to the area. I hope we can perform Microfiction ATL again in another incarnation! ~Liz (General Director of TdR and performer)

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Posted by Liz Hartnett on September 23, 2011 at 5:59 PM
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