Loin d’Hagondange

text; it can translate the subjective feelings of the composer, but it cannot rationally explain his ideological convictions. The language of Wagner's musical revolution - of time, of structure, of hearing, of perception - is opposed by the substance of the old myths, which testify to the defeat and collapse of the old order. And even within the myths there is a mixture of contradictory elements which gives the operas their special dimension. The 'Ring' begins as a kind of epic vision , with strong fairy-tale elements, and it ends in bourgeois melodrama, with the main characters engaged in the psychological torture of one another. In 'Rheingold,' the situations and the characters are clearly laid out. But as the drama develops, the characters become complex and ambiguous, to the point where even Wagner himself couldn't draw any conclusions about the ending. You have a very simple epic idea - a hero, Siegfried, who does not know fear - and, at the same time, you put him into an intensely human 'Tristan' situation. Wagner was, perhaps, more gifted in music than in drama, and at the end of the 'Ring' his musical gift simply overpowered everything. "The score begins anecdotally, with literal themes tied to characters or practical situations. But once this musical entity is firmly established, it is, in a remarkable way, modified. The themes seem to lead a life independent of the dramatic action, and they acquire a fascinating vitality of their own. We see them being modified, developing , uniting, acquiring offspring, like characters in a novel. Gradually, the themes proliferate like an enormous family, and at the end they form a musical universe so rich and complex that it simply absorbs the stage characters. Although there is no conclusion in the drama to match the epic beginning, there is a conclusion in the music. For me, the ending is neither hopeful nor pessimistic. I feel that everything simply begins again. Somewhere there are a Wotan Two and a Wotan Three waiting for their turn." From "Letter from Bayreuth" in The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission; 01976, The New Yorker Magazine, Inc. Loin d'Hagondange Raymonde Temkine When it was learned that Patrice Chereau had decided to stage Jean-Paul Wenzel's Loin d'Hagondange,it was a surprise to everyone. Not only had the author already staged his own play, but it had successfully played at the Comedie de Caen for a full year and had gone on tour. Furthermore, this very simple, direct two-character play with its realistic approach and tone is the complete antithesis of Chereau's earlier work. The many lyrical, epic productions he had staged had called for numerous performers and name actors and actresses. The connection between these and Loin d'Hagondangecan, however, be found 90 in its theme. An elderly couple has retired to the country. The husband, a former metallurgist, had never learned to do anything but work in a factory. Indeed, that had been the only place where he had felt like a man with a purpose in life. Without the factory he is nothing and he feels like a reject. He has neither the time nor the money to give his life any new meaning. All that is left is continual boredom and waiting for death. His wife, who has never been anything but an appendage to him, dies before he does. The play deals with nothing else; just time nibbling away at these dispossessed people so familiar to all of us. Patrice Chereau has always felt deeply about old age and death. He has never been able to get used to the cruelty and derision inherent in the human condition , which is of course further aggravated by social conditions. Chereau had already spoken of this when he was awarded the prize for leading the best young company in 1967: "One of my major concerns in the theatre is to present moral problems: how people live, what means they have to live by, and how they deal with the problem of making a better life." In LaDispute, Toller, and Bond these moral issues were faced by major characters who were historical or mythical heroes. In Loin d'Hagondange,they are...