tah! As she rattles into the receiver of the telephone, mother Amanda routinely chops up a chicken. Her son Tom flees to the cinema in his free evenings, or at least that’s what he says. Secretly he writes poems and dreams of a meaningful life. Meanwhile, his sister Laura, who is slightly handicapped and introverted, prefers to hide in a corner under thick sheets, or look at her collection of glass animals.
Also read this interview with Ivo van Hove: Ivo van Hove likes to remain a mystery, also for himself
Director Ivo van Hove made La menagerie de verte (‘Glass toys’) at the Paris Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe. The famous film and theater actress Isabelle Huppert plays Amanda as an exalted puppeteer whose strings gradually become hopelessly tangled, while she herself does not realize it. Huppert aims high from the first scene: her dominance betrays an enormous sadness. Amanda rattles and rescues to dispel the emptiness and disillusionment, which is beautifully tragic. With unparalleled articulation and numerous distinctive mannerisms, Huppert gives her character relief.
And that is welcome, because Tennessee Williams’ (partly autobiographical) piece from 1944, on balance, is slowly getting off the starting blocks. He takes the time to introduce his characters and only in the second half does the drama gain depth, when Tom – at the strong insistence of his mother – takes a colleague for dinner. Amanda sees in this Jim O’Connor a possible suitor for her daughter.
narrow staircase
Scenographer Jan Versweyveld designed a stuffy space with a low ceiling and a narrow staircase to the top – towards an outside world that only imposes itself when it rains and the water drips through the ceiling. All over the walls is the face of Amanda’s husband, who mercilessly abandoned his family. This paradox – a constantly present absence – is central to Van Hove’s adaptation.
Also read this profile of Isabelle Huppert: Actress without borders
Isabelle Huppert is perhaps the eye-catcher of this production, her opponents are second to none. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart plays Tom tormented and playful at the same time: at times with empathy he contemplates the family from which he also so intensely likes to be separated.
The most beautiful scene is the intimate dialogue between Laura and Jim, in which they come very close to each other. Cyril Guei plays Jim warmly and lovingly, giving Justine Bachelet a touching chance to thaw. There it is, in that stuffy basement: a momentary moment of happiness, and Laura’s uninhibited laughter is so beautiful to shiver. The deeply tragic ending that follows is all the more painful.
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