l'acte inconnu

In this city where I am too often, my pleasure is walking along the water noticing its eb and flow and speed. Also I enjoy looking at the copper roofs in the different lights trying to feel the texture with my eyes. The best thing however is stepping out of the political reality, exchanging it for an artistic one by going to the theater whenever MK and myself can swing it. L'acte inconnu was this weeks performance. I love the anticipation in the bar of the theater waiting for my friend to arrive, waiting for the magic to be done, waiting for the language to flow through the actors who embody it. I expected the play to yield an interesting visual experience. It did. It was well choreographed and, using puppets and gadgets. For the rest I can only say it was very French: a logorea with neologisms, the changing of logic and grammar at each instant, the small changes of repetitive music. There is also a play on perceived reality. Actors act, one also act at non acting, death present and being outwitted by make believe. Yes it was an intellectual philosophical, funny, challenging play on words. Did I understand it all? No! But the idea of cheating death by grammar is an appealing one, very Chomskyan who said that structure of a language and the meaning rendered by it are two separate things. His illustration for this was the sentence: Green ideas sleep furiously. In this play the ideas were multihued and well executed. Language once again, the all powerful protagonist.