‘Huis Clos’, ‘Les Chaises’, à chacun son enfer…le supplice ultime n’est-il pas celui qui se répète éternellement, quelque soit la langue ou la saison?

Five siblings arrange and rearrange chairs and greet invisible guests. Three dead women meet in a living room. If these premises seem absurd, that is the point. Adaptations of Eugène Ionesco’s Les Chaises (The Chairs) and Jean-Paul Sartre’s Huis Clos (No Exit) will be presented by Les Illustres Comédiens of Cours de Jeu Théâtral and their leader, Jackie Planeix, in conjunction with the Cultural Services of the Ambassade de France and Bluepalm (ACE) at Silverlake’s Lyric Hyperion Theater on Saturday, January 23^rd (public) and Monday, January 25^th (schools).

Les Illustres Comédiens are made up of eight bilingual high school students. They have been studying French Theatre with Ms. Planeix, since they were in elementary school. The performances in January will feature scenes in English and then in French by the same actors. The public will be able to appreciate the work in both languages and observe how the work is woven together into a single dramatic concept which sheds new light on the plays from which it is inspired. A post-performance discussion will explore the theme of ‘Text/representation, adaptation/translation’. A first public all-French version of the project took place in February 2009.

Ms Planeix’s Jeu Théâtral (Play-acting) is an approach to theater that includes physical, vocal, and spatial training. Of the Sartre and Ionesco works, Ms Planeix says, “Despite very different approaches, both plays explore a common theme, that of man faced with his life, his actions, his destiny. To challenge young actors with this theme in two different languages is to seek the universal thread, transcending cultures, eras, and generations, in man’s relationship to the world and to the Other, then, using this reflection, to show why it is more important than ever for young people throughout the world to be familiar with the work of these two great French playwrights.” Ms Planeix is a graduate of the Mudra Performing Arts Institute and is certified by the French Ministère de la Culture.  She toured the world with the Béjart Ballet and her own company, Blue Palm. She has taught play-acting all over Europe and the U.S. and is the artistic director of Bluepalm ACE, a company she founded with her husband, Tom Crocker.  Bluepalm ACE designs arts education programs, conducts professional development for teachers K-12, and is regularly invited by universities to conduct presentations, courses, and lectures.

Les Illustres Comédiens are LILA's own secondary students and alumni Anika, Turner, Maeva, Chloé, Madeleine, Simone, Hayley, and Camille.  The public performance on Saturday, January 23rd will begin at 8 p.m. at the Lyric-Hyperion Theater, 2106 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Tickets are $20. Seating will be on a first come first served basis.