It is perhaps André Bazin who reflected most profoundly on the relationship between theatre and cinema when examining the ontology of cinema in his series of books and essays entitled What Is Cinema?. Since then, countless film-makers have asked themselves the same question and tried to answer it. Frédéric Fonteyne is one of them. For him, these two art forms are as close to one another as painting can be to music. Of course, there are actors, the subject is the human being who is shown through actions, and a dramaturgy is involved. But techniques differ. Cinema is not after the same goal as theatre. Could cinema be the locus of the micro event that acquires an unexpected scope and theatre the locus of representation? ‘Behind the issue of representation there immediately arises another issue, that of the actor.’ Wasn’t Robert Bresson defending an idea of cinema in stark contrast to theatre when he claimed that we should never film actors but that we should use models, taken from life? For all that, is the work method of Transquinquennal’s actors not similar to this idea, since this method demystifies the illusion of representation?
It is around these open questions that Frédéric Fonteyne and Transquinquennal, who have already created a show together, are going to join forces. This construction site will be an opportunity to explore and confront their ideas and experiences. In search of what? They probably don’t know yet. ‘A construction site is a site. You dig and dig again, and you hope you’ll find something’, as they say …
Credits
From and with : Frédéric Fonteyne, Transquinquennal
Production : Transquinquennal
Coproduction : TEMPS D'IMAGE : Ferme du Buisson/Les Halles de Schaerbeek
Video of the show
Photos
Dates
- 09/02/2002: La Ferme du Buisson, scène nationale, Marne-La-Valée (FR)