Richard Demarcy has been rolling his “world theater” around the globe for 35 years in an effort to break down national and cultural barriers. His appropriately named Théâtre Naïf is utterly unpretentious in its art, one in which this multi-ethnic company also takes very sincere pleasure. Inspired by the craft of storytelling as much as by contemporary issues of identity, in a country currently racked by the question, Demarcy and friends create a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” of racial harmony and cultural understanding that makes a joyous pillow-fight of differences and national pride. The cast, which hails from eight countries across Asia, Africa, North America and Europe, tells “Un certain Songe, une nuit d’été” with humor, fantasy and grace, with a bric-a-brac set and costumes in which Venetian carnival meets les puces de Clignancourt just up the road. Buffoonery and measure hold hands in Demarcy’s direction and revisited text, which comments freely on current cultural politics and funding but keeps Shakespeare’s dream and spirit as its guiding star throughout. Proof that la France multiculturelle is not ignored by contemporary directors, even if Demarcy (unlike his more famous son, Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, director of the Théâtre de la Ville, and more faithful to the soixante-huitard vistion of his neighbor Peter Brook) sticks close to its margins.
To May 23, Fri-Sat, 8 pm, Sun, 3 pm, Le Grand Parquet, 20 bis rue du Département, 18e, Mº La Chapelle, 3 euros – 13 euros, tel: 01.40.05.01.50.
Photo Credit: Axe Sud
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