“Gossip & My Dick”

Today we continued with the scene of the two women gossiping, and we did the scene between Chandebise and Finache (doctor) about Chandebise’s erectile problems. “We have to see the actor have the fun to say “no erection anymore”.”

I tried gossiping as a woman with Thomas. We weren’t getting it, so every time it fell Philippe would play music and we would dance (to regain complicité and fun). We never really got the gossiping quality, but we had a bit of a game together and we had fun.

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Later I tried the erection scene with Ben, and it was fantastic! It was a bit shaky at first, but soon Ben started being a little crazy to save the show, and I went with him, and before we knew it the scene turned ridiculous with us running around the room, giving each other medical examinations, swapping jackets, lifting chairs above our heads, asking about each others’ wives and so on. We had great complicité, good fun, and a good game between us. “Game is good. Complicité is good. Fun is good.”

Philippe said the scene went off topic (I didn’t keep on the subject of the erection enough) but it was good - “Good madness.” - and we could/should do the scene in this way - with the text. He also said that in a game you can’t copy your friend. You have to do something different. i.e. If he has a speech problem, I can’t have one too. “I have my madness - you have your madness - and we go!”

I feel really good about the work I did today. I know there are more things to work on (of course) but for me it was a good step to have pleasure and a game. And it’s great to work with Ben - he gives a lot and commits completely - so I feel safe with him and am happy to follow. He said to me that yesterday when I tried the Camille speech-problem scene with Mia I was close but didn’t completely commit - I held back a bit - and so it didn’t quite work. And I know this. So I need to start committing completely to what I do on stage - otherwise I’ll never know how far I can go.

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“In France, you are a great actor if you played Feydeau.”

“An actor - his job is not to be deep like the play. An actor has to have fun to give life to someone. And after, the director organises...”

My job as an actor is “to have fun to resuscitate the shadow of my character.”

Everybody in the theatre has different jobs: “You don’t have to carry the weight of the play on your shoulder.”

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In La Cage aux Folles the actors are absurd.

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Charles and Akron tried the gossip scene as women, and it was bad several times, but as Philippe started to kill them Charles got into a great zone - “don’t listen to that old man”  - and then this hilarious scene evolved in which Charles was coaching Akron on how to become a ‘strong, powerful woman.’ “Repeat after me: I am strong. I am powerful. I am a woman.” 

And there was this fantastic moment in which Charles got Akron to put this plastic bouquet of flowers into a glass ‘like a strong, powerful woman’...but every time Akron would do this the glass would fall over, Akron would cry, and Charles would be in the shit. It was brilliant.