I'll be missing you, Land

Fabien Rodrigues

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“Un seul être vous manque et tout est dépeuplé » (‘ But one may lack a single being and all is deosolate’, David Paley) said Lamartine in his loneliness. This quote seems to apply in both intense and subtle ways to the characters of Funeral Blues – The Missing Cabaret produced by the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and presented this week at the Grand Théâtre. For, in this cabaret, performed in English, tinged British wit and phlegm, the main part is indeed the suffering for the absence of the other person, through the interpretations of the poet Wystan H. Auden and his platonic lover, the composer, Benjamin Britten.

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These three characters come alive under the direction of the Franco-British director Olivier Fredj, in this version co-produced by the Théâtre de Caen, in partnership with the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord. Alternating music, poetry, singing, dancing, and even improvised puppets, the baryton Laurent Naouri and the actor Richard Clothier (respectively Britten and Auden) try to put words, intentions, and answers into the questions that are too big for them, on the whys and hows of love, on survival despite the absence, while their strange neighbor, played here by the pianist Cathy Krier, accompanies their quest with music and shows herself off at the slightest occasion to mask her personal loneliness and the passionate relationship she prefers to pretend is simulated rather than destroyed. The promise can be frightening because of its depth, but it is not so, on the contrary.

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The scenes follow each other, with no unnecessary style effects. One might even regret that the eccentric young lady is only slightly so in this version, but one cannot ignore the quality of the acting of this outdated trio, as during the superb scenes where the body of one of them disappears for the caress of the other, a fleeting spectator of what absence causes to a loved and loving one.

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As for the scenery, it plays a good foil too, with visual symbols concerning Auden and Britten’s lives on one side (the initial scene in the shower in a homo-erotic atmosphere which is hardly ambiguous) and a joyous extremely realistic shambles in the pianist’s apartment.​

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LUXEMBURGER WORT

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There was a full house at the Studio du Grand Théâtre on Thursday evening for the world creation, “Funeral Blues – The Missing Cabaret”, staged by Olivier Fredj. It was a vibrant homage to the poet, Wystan Hugh Auden and the composer, Benjamin Britten, and the play performed in English also gave a tongue-in-cheek homage to the famous American burlesque singer, Gyspy Rose Lee. The cast of this very special cabaret, the British actor, Richard Clothier, the French baryton Laurent Naouri and the Luxembourg pianist, Cathy Krier were all exceptional and gave a performance that was both memorable and touching.

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The director, Olivier Fredj, managed to weave an original dramatic theme linking the different parts of the play. He thus intentionally chose to respect both Auden’s exceptional work and Britten’s music.

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The serious and talented way the actors tackled their roles allowed the audience to plunge immediately into a universe that seemed colorful at first, crazy and superficial but gradually called into question and evoked a range of profoundly human feelings.

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Laurent Naouri shone in the very physical part of the composer Britten, joyfully revealing his many talents as a comic dancer, an actor, and a versatile singer, going from opera to real pop music or even jazz.

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As was to be expected, the main character in “Funeral Blues – The Missing Cabaret- is Wystan Hugh Auden, a poet of genius who questions himself constantly and, although he looks at the world around him with little complacency.