“I Read Your Horoscope And It’s Not A Good Day For You...”

More of Un fil à la Patte today. The play with Bouzin in it. One scene in which a man (I can’t remember his name) is stuck outside in his underwear and tricks Bouzin into giving him his clothes. He actually pulls a gun on him...but the gun is fake. And then the following scene in which the man who is now in Bouzin’s (strange) clothes is met by a woman who he had recently rejected his marriage proposal. Or perhaps her mother didn’t allow her to say yes...I’m not really sure...this was my problem today...and he had gone off and slept with another woman...or perhaps he is known for his infidelity...I don’t know. I need to read the play. But anyway, the woman brings along another lady who is her ‘guardian’, but the guardian is deaf, and mute. And the woman has told her guardian (through sign language) that the man she is visiting is her singing teacher. So the woman advises the man to sing everything he wants to say to her.

Singing: I’m sorry for last niiiiight! ... What the hell are you doing heeeeere ... etc

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Ben and Katy played the scene with Sophia as the deaf guardian. Ben was great with absolutely ridiculous sign language and a big loud voice, and Sophia was fantastic as a slightly mental deaf lady. 

And this great game emerged in which Ben was waving his gun around in order to try and make his point heard. But he was totally oblivious to the fact that this was scaring the shit out of the deaf woman. It was hysterically funny. I was weeping with laughter. Every time he pulled the gun out I would crack up. I would love to make a show that was this funny. I’ve never been to one!

I didn’t really have a clue what exactly was supposed to happen in the scene, even after a few others had a go, but I got up anyway. With Vicky as the deaf lady and Mia. It was bad. I was stuck, and pushing. And tired and in a bad mood. So when Philippe said “Guy is negative” I wasn’t surprised. Tried another two times, and Philippe even played some music and I danced around the stage before we started to create a good atmosphere...but we couldn’t make it work. Philippe said that earlier in the day he had received a phone call from Michiko saying that she felt sick after her flight overseas. He then asked the audience, “after seeing this show, do you feel sick?” Yes. Mike suggested Camomile tea is a good remedy to which Philippe replied in the affirmative: “three litres of it.”

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Ben and Akron tried the scene with Bouzin giving the guy his clothes. It was pretty funny too. Akron started to find how to play the bizarreness of Bouzin. The slow reactions, long stares and stupid smiles. It was also funny for us because it seemed to us that Akron didn’t quite understand what was supposed to happen in the scene. So watching him figure it out was fun. Philippe admitted it was funny, but said “we have to see Bouzin absolutely ready to die. Big fear! Panic!”

Finally Thomas and I got up in the last ten minutes of class to also try the Bouzin clothes-swapping scene. Philippe warned me that “it’s not a good idea...I read your horoscope and it’s not a good day for you...” but I went up anyway. Thomas was only going to get up if I went with him, and so I thought what the heck. But Philippe was right about my horoscope.

The scene was pretty rubbish, but we played up the fact that we both knew it was bad and  kind of turned it into a deliberate ham-acting show with little actor-asides to each other throughout the scene. “What’s my line again?” “Nice stockings” - “Thanks, I got them from Tati. Only 5€.”

“Good private actor complicité, but not with the text.”