![]() ![]() ![]() The precision carries just as well to the sound and lighting, and the beautiful set. Ngonadi makes the switch on a hairpin and keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat with his incandescent performance. The professor (Jerome Ngonadi) seems discombobulated at times and domineering at others, supportive and treacherous. The professor’s maid (JULIE STARK) is callous and brusque she may play a secondary role to the professor and his pupil, but she dominates the stage when she is present. ![]() A bright-eyed and eager-to-please pupil (HAZEL CAULFIELD) appears and makes us laugh at her intense drive to learn. This may be intended as captioning for those who need support, but it serves everyone in the audience, as it captures the tonality and mood of the moment and adds moments of humour. Chalkboards are opened to reveal the lesson planning and used to expound and enlighten using this animated text. The spoken words are projected as visual text, like animation, with precise timing and variation of size and location. ![]() What is immediately striking is that this is not sub- or surtitles like you’ve ever seen. What this UK production provides is something that could likely not have been envisioned by the revered playwright: Creative Captioning. The play is a mainstay at the French ‘Theatre de la Huchette’ where it is performed as part of a double bill regularly. Finally, the lesson ends unexpectedly, and the professor’s maid returns with a solution to the problem. An individual lesson by a professor, starting with basic mathematics and moving into philology (the study of language), descends into madness and the pupil’s health deteriorates. ‘Packs a powerful message with the surprising addition of creative captioning’ ★★★★įirst performed in 1951, The Lesson by Romanian French playwright, Eugene Ionesco is considered a classic in the canon of Theatre of the Absurd and carries heavy post-war (existential) themes. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2022
Categories |