Chatting with Madame Mayette

French troupe debuts 'Fontaine'
Friday, July 6, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER

This summer, all the world's stage is in New York. The Lincoln Center Festival flies in acts from around the globe, from Japanese kabuki actors to Chile's Teatro Cinema.

"Les Fables de la Fontaine" is a production by the premiere French theater company La Comedie-Francaise. It dramatizes 19 of the more than 250 verse fables by classical author Jean de la Fontaine, who was a contemporary of Moliere, the founding force behind La Comedie-Francaise, and the Sun King, Louis XIV.

We spoke with Muriel Mayette, the current -- and first female -- director of the company, about art that reaches tout le monde -- all cultures and all ages.

Q. This run will be the American debut of "Les Fables de la Fontaine." In France, Jean de la Fontaine is well-known, and his fables are well-known even to children. The production has been very well received in France, where it brings back nostalgic memories of childhood for many viewers. Are you worried that the reception will be markedly different in America, where there is no such deep cultural memory of the fables?

I think the audience is actually going to take more pleasure out of it, because they will be discovering the stories for the first time.

I acted three years ago in "Le Malade Imaginaire" by Moliere in New York, and I remember the New York audience laughed like children, because they picked up on the authentic comedy. They responded even better than the audience did in France.

I think it will be the same for "Les Fables."
Q. One of the actors, Bakary Sangare of Mali, has commented that this production is reminiscent of African oral tradition. Do you feel that working in an oral tradition mode, the Comedie-Francaise is doing something it rarely does?

Yes. This piece is entirely new because of [director] Bob Wilson.

These tales are a good example of how a presentation of naivete can demand sophistication. It is in the naﶥ mode of animals, of the tales we tell our children, but it incorporates La Fontaine's sophisticated handling of the material.

Q. Is this a production for children?

Absolutely.

Q. La Fontaine wrote the fables in verse. What happens to the quality of the language when the audience is reading the translated text in supertitles?

The fables are not only poetry, but are also short stories. They actually use images, especially animal images to represent humankind. The aim of the short stories was to present our human weaknesses. ...

La Fontaine is a universal auteur, and this is an easy piece to tour with. To me, Robert Wilson made a very visual piece that made it very easy to understand for all cultures.
Q. What is your impression of the director, Robert Wilson? What sort of director and artist is he in your eyes, coming from an acting background?

His art is universal because the visual dimension of it is something everyone can understand. His stage art connects with the audience all over the world, and not only that, but all ages. When he created "Regard du Sourd" [a production she appeared in as an actress], he really invented a new mode of theater. He's a great inventor.

Saying an artist has the quality of universality, in my mind, is the greatest compliment.

Q. Are you going toward universality in the future?

Of course we are, because the Comedie-Francaise is the biggest and the oldest theater troupe in France. It is our mission to transmit and share the patrimony of the French theater. We want and need to present to the largest audience possible. I've been working on that since I became the director of the Comedie-Francaise.

Right now, part of the company is in Milan, and another group is in Bourgogne.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

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