Not-a-review: La Ménagerie de Verre, Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe

Coronavirus may stopped me from seeing Isabelle Huppert and Ivo van Hove’s La Ménagerie de Verre at the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe in Paris but some bloopers will always make me smile

“La scène est la mémoire”

In the grand scheme of things, missing out on an Ivo van Hove/Isabelle Huppert collaboration isn’t the end of the world but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed. La Ménagerie de Verre was due to come to the Barbican this summer but naturally I wanted to see this Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe production in its Parisian home. As a co-production with La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand scène nationale, Onassis Stegi in Athens, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Thalia Theater in Hamburg, deSingel in Antwerp and the Barbican, one hopes that this won’t be the end for this production, we’ll have to see.

Any chance to see Huppert live should be snaffled up immediately, no matter how strange or how far, but there’s also something interesting in seeing Tennessee Williams done in a foreign language as released from the distracting tyranny of trying to nail a Southern accent, the potential for something richer seems to flow.

 

In the meantime, these Isabelle Huppert bloopers are one of the things that give me the most joy in my life, especially the couple of minutes from 3.26 onwards.

Photos: Jan Versweyveld

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