Sometimes you're fortunate enough to witness an extraordinary event. Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher by Arthur Honegger and Paul Claudel, directed by Romeo Castellucci, is one such occasion.
Performances of Honegger's dramatic oratorio are rare due to its enormous cast requirements: not only do you need an extensive orchestra featuring saxophones, an ondes martenot, and keyboards in prominent roles, but also a large choir, a children's choir, two speaking parts, and five soloists. Consequently, the work is usually performed in a concert version, which is itself a massive undertaking.
De Munt now treats audiences to a staging by Romeo Castellucci that has already been honored three times over—a staging by one of the leading directors of our time. A rare opportunity to witness this gripping work performed with masterful execution.
Of course, where Castellucci goes, scandal is never far behind. The same applies to Jeanne d'Arc. He simply explores the boundaries of theater and sometimes crosses them. He's a provocateur who takes pleasure in challenging sacred cows. But isn't that very provocative spirit a hallmark of genius? And be honest: what harm is there in portraying Jeanne d'Arc nude as a transgender figure? A woman in men's clothing or naked—is that a desecration of the Maid of Orléans, as the narrow-minded Federation Pro Europa Christiana would have us believe? Doesn't it demonstrate artistic integrity to finally strip Jeanne d'Arc of the baggage of centuries and reduce her to what she is: a naked human being?
Martyr, saint, fighter against injustice and more—Jeanne d'Arc has symbolized everything under the sun. Castellucci does Jeanne justice by 'demythologizing' her. And in doing so, he finds Honegger and Claudel on his side.
For they saw in the story of the young woman who played a decisive role in uniting France during the Hundred Years' War not a saint's life but an allegory of their own time.
Now, over eighty years later, one can say this subject matter is just as relevant as it was then. And that this allegory is still not understood by everyone, as evidenced by the 10,349 signatures gathered by the aforementioned reactionary Christian organization. To no avail—the show must go on.
For timeless is the theme of the individual crushed by the machinery of spiritual and religious power. Timeless is the theme of the bloodthirsty crowd incited by its leaders. And finally, timeless is the theme of populism. One can still easily identify with it today.
The idea for the work came from Ida Rubinstein, a dancer, actress, and above all a patroness of immense Russian wealth. Her influence on the cultural life of her time was significant. Among others, Debussy, Stravinsky, and Ravel dedicated works to her. She was the one who brought Honegger and Claudel together, resulting in a resounding dramatic oratorio about the life of Jeanne d'Arc. The world premiere took place in Basel in 1938. A year later, the French premiere was held in Orléans.
Castellucci's approach is revolutionary. He immediately puts the spectator off balance by relocating the action to an extremely realistically depicted classroom. A symbol for the place where one is indoctrinated with lies and half-truths.
The bell rings, the girls in uniform leave the classroom under their teacher's supervision. A janitor enters with his cleaning cart and, in a fit of rage, throws all the classroom's contents into the hallway, then locks himself in…
Only then—about ten minutes in—the orchestra strikes up with a dark, ominous prologue and the drama unfolds. It is from this 'wrong' body of the janitor in this 'wrong' place, a schoolroom, that Jeanne emerges. First in men's clothes as janitor-Jeanne, but ultimately transformed into a naked, vulnerable, yet powerful woman. Jeanne d'Arc stripped of all symbols and myths. It creates breathtaking imagery.
The story tells how Jeanne, awaiting the execution of her sentence, relives her life in eleven flashbacks, in reverse order. There is a Brother Dominique who functions from the wings as God's messenger. He helps Jeanne understand and accept the cascade of events that has brought her to this place.
The choir and soloists are positioned invisibly in the upper reaches and loges of the hall. They take no part in the action. They embody the voices in Jeanne's mind, reminding her of the crucial events in her life that have led her to the stake.
Through this intervention, Castellucci shifts the focus of the performance entirely to the spare actions on stage, where the naked Jeanne learns to come to terms with her fate, assisted by her divine coach Brother Dominique. It creates striking theater.
The spectator is swept along by the dizzying pace at which scenes unfold. Moments of satire alternate with despair and meditative stillness.
Gripping is the scene in which Jeanne relives her trial. The jury consists of beasts. Presiding is Porcus the pig, the Bishop of Beauvais Cauchon (what's in a name), cheered by the bloodthirsty choir as the pig of pigs. It's a mock trial. When asked whether she defeated the English with the devil's help, she answers 'non.' The clerk records 'oui,' and with that, her fate is sealed.
Jeanne's memory of the card game, where she must watch helplessly as those in power divvy up the spoils, also produces a gripping scene. Set to a lighthearted court minuet to further emphasize its satirical nature.
The spoken dialogues between Jeanne and Brother Dominic bring a sense of calm and reflection.
Honegger displays enormous versatility in his score. Here is a master at work who commands the orchestral palette down to the finest details and is capable of weaving together the most disparate musical styles into a unified whole.
Equally effective is his choice to cast an actress in the role of Jeanne and an actor in the role of Brother Dominique.
Elements of jazz, folk music, medieval chants, cabaret, and neo-classicism are woven together. They ensure that the listener goes from one surprise to the next, and the conductor has his hands full doing justice to every detail.
The fact that Kazushi Ono managed to maintain that unity throughout this technically complex production deserves high praise. An orchestra in the pit, choir and children's choir spread across the upper galleries, soloists in the lower boxes, and of course the soloists on stage. It must be a logistical nightmare to keep it all together. But he pulled it off effortlessly.
The Munt Orchestra was in top form. Despite the exceptional casting, everything ran smoothly by ear. Beautiful dark tones from the wind section, surprising saxophones and of course here and there the blood-curdling wail of the theremin. Delightful!
The choir was also unparalleled, at times overwhelming in populist hate-mongering and bloodlust, with of course an extra bow for the children!
The soloists had perhaps a thankless task, being invisible, but they delivered flawless work without exception, with Jean-Noel Briend as a hilarious Bishop Cauchon, pig among pigs. Ilse Eerens we saw as the only soloist on stage as the Virgin.
But all attention was naturally focused on the formidable Audrey Bonnet, who portrayed all the emotions her protagonist experienced with striking authenticity, as if she were Jeanne herself. And then also stand on stage for an hour and a half (almost) naked. A tour de force.
Her counterpart Sébastien Dutrieux as Brother Dominique, despite his unobtrusive place in the wings, also managed to command attention with his beautiful sonorous voice.
But the greatest praise must naturally go to Romeo Castellucci, who has stripped Jeanne d'Arc of the ballast of centuries in an effective and moving way and reduced her to what she was: a vulnerable naked human being. Ecce homo!
Not all performances are sold out yet. Go see it!
- WHAT: Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher – Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)
- MUSICAL DIRECTIONKazushi Ono
- DIRECTIONRomeo Castellucci
- CAST: Jeanne d'Arc: Audrey Bonnet – Frère Dominique: Sébastien Dutrieux – La Vierge: Ilse Eerens – Marguerite: Tineke Van Ingelgem – Catherine: Aude Extrêmo – Une Voix, Porcus, Héraut I, Le Clerc: JEAN-NOËL BRIEND – Une Voix, Héraut II, Paysan: Jérôme Varnier – Héraut III, L'Ane, Bedford, Jean de Luxembourg, Un paysan: Louka Petit-Taborelli – L'Appariteur, Regnault de Chartres, Guillaume de Flavy, Perrot, Un prêtre: Geoffrey Boissy – Soprano Solo: Gwendoline Blondeel – Une Voix d'Enfant: Siobhan Mathiak
- MUSICIANS: Symphony Orchestra and Choir of De Munt, Children's and Youth Choir of De Munt conducted by Benoît Giaux
- WHERE & WHEN: deMunt, Brussels, premiere, November 5, 2019
- PHOTOS: © Stofleth and © B. Uhlig
