Performing A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Homeless (and Others) in Paris

Authors

Isabelle Schwartz-Gastine University of Caen

Keywords:

Midsummer, Performance Studies, Service

Abstract

The production of A Midsummer Night's Dream given in March 2010 by the company Théâtre du Bout du Monde in Paris had an unusual cast composed of amateurs, helped by professionals. The two directors, Miguel Borras and Philippe Guérin, have conducted workshops for amateurs in various locations: a bank, a primary school, a center for homeless people, an assisted living home for the elderly, and a ward for people struggling with mental illness at the local hospital. The members of these heterogeneous groups were given roles in the production despite their difficulties. Instead of trying to minimize or hide the disabilities of these amateurs, the directors integrated them into their dramaturgy, turning challenges into assets. The amateurs were paired with the professional members of the company, so that the mechanicals, the four Athenian lovers, and even Theseus, could rely on experienced actors if they failed to remember the details of their parts. Thanks to the inventiveness of the directors, this production managed to explore new perspectives of this play that resulted from the (dis)abilities of these amateurs, creating a strong impression of ensemble work.

Author Biography

Isabelle Schwartz-Gastine, University of Caen

Isabelle Schwartz-Gastine is professor of Renaissance Drama at the University of Caen, France. Among other affiliations, she is a member of the Société Française Shakespeare (The French Shakespeare Society), The Stratford International Conference, The European Shakespeare Research Association, and The International Shakespeare Association. Her field of research is in performance studies, concerning the staging of the Shakespearean canon on the French stage. She has written many articles and chapters on this subject in international publications or books (Revue d'Histoire du Théâtre, Société Française Shakespeare, and The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare). She wrote a monograph on A Midsummer Night's Dream (Paris: Armand Colin, 2002), and one on King Lear (Neuilly: Atlande, 2007), and has edited several volumes. She is the translator of a volume of poetry by Debjani Chatterjee, I Was That Woman, Cette femme-là . . . (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2000).