Abattage Rituel De Gorge Mastromas (2015-2018)
English Title
The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas
Director
Maïa Sandoz
Playwright
Dennis Kelly
Year
2015-2018
Form
Reading at the Festival Contre Courant 2015
Stage Play 2016-2018
Stage Play 2016-2018
Duration
1h40m
Synopsis
Gorge Mastromas is a bastard and knows it.
He can. He has the money and the power.
As a child, his kindness confined him to supporting roles, suffering more than he chose his life. As an adult, he metamorphoses. Leaves innocence for abjection, becomes master of a capitalist world in which he reigns, whatever the means employed.
With a corrosive humor, Dennis Kelly creates with this character the
prototype of the liberal hero: an unscrupulous being, the kind of
manipulator that sacreds our society today.
Each new piece by Denis Kelly is a real surprise.
The skill of his characters and his dramatic audacity make him one of the most talented European authors of our time.
In Ritual Slaughter, Dennis Kelly reminds us that our choices are only
good or bad in the light of history; with his latest play, he gives us a
monstrous mythology of tremendous modernity. He produces here "by the way" his best opus.
It is a clearly charged piece against ultra-liberalism, "by the way", which methodically kills humanity in all of us.
Production details
Stage director
Maïa Sandoz
With
Adèle Haenel
Aurélie Verillon
Paul Moulin
Serge Biavan
Gilles Nicolas
Maxime Coggio
Christophe Danvin
Translation
Gerard Watkins
Assistant stage director
Clémence Barbier
Light creation
Julie Bardin
Sound creation
Christophe Danvin,
Jean-François Domingues
Scenography & costumes
Catherine Cosme
Collaboration: Artistic
Paul Moulin
Guillaume Moitessier
General & Stage management
Édouard Ribouillot
Administration/Production
Alice Perot-Hodjis
Fabienne Coulon
When staged
July 2015 (Contre Courant Festival), November 2016, April 2017, May 2017, Touring 2017.
Adèle’s role
Sexy executive & other roles.
Notes
This play was first performed by the troupe at the 2015 Contre Courant Festival as a play reading and then staged by Théâtre de l’Argument as a full production in Paris, and then at many locations around France. All of the reviews I found (& I look far and wide) are extremely positive—they rave about Maïa's direction, about the performances of each of the actors, the music, and all aspects of the production. Maïa's direction clearly brings out the best in her actors.
I have not found any photographs of the play reading at the Festival Contre Courant, but there are photos of the rehearsals before that performance, and photos from later rehearsals and performances.
As has been seen by the films that Adèle had chosen to perform in, for example L’Apollonide (where she met Maïa and Paul), Les Ogres, and 120 Battement Par Minute, she works very well as part of a team, as well as starring in a film alone (for example, La Fille Inconnue & Déchainées).
"Why did you choose to make this piece?
Maïa Sandoz: Already, it is an almost new work, I have never seen it edited. However, his dramaturgy is particularly rich, full of challenges and openings for staging and imagination. And then there is the subject: Mastromas is an allegory of the capitalist world and of neoliberal ideology. The play asks questions about morality and courage, which are very important today. It also has the advantage of not being moralizing."More education work from Maia
As with earlier plays that we have looked at, director & actress Maïa Sandoz takes the time to talk to school students about the production and the play. I find this aspect of the theatre group really impressive, as I value education above many things...Interview with Adèle about the play
Adèle was interviewed about the play when they were performing at Grenoble in 2018.
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| A photo of the filming of this interview (wearing a Mansfield.TYA t-shirt) |
Article: The Dog Life of Gorge Mastromas
“Even a Caesarized, Adèle Haenel is loyal to the collective L'Argument and embarks on a new creation where the staging is signed Maïa Sandoz. A very collective show where group cohesion takes precedence and works, for a show that tells the story of one man.”
Excerpts from Reviews
It was clearly a brilliant production—well directed, great performances & great interpretation of the piece.
“…Dennis Kelly gives us a fierce tale about ultraliberalism. The refreshing staging of Maïa Sandoz brings a sacred dose of black humour and what to say about these comedians all amazing, all talented. We let ourselves be tossed in their arms until the final knockout…
Maïa Sandoz musically edited the text with a fragmented structure, where time no longer exists, where the labyrinthine form remains enigmatic. The actors play collectively and well. We can't help but particularly love Adèle Haenel, fierce and rebellious.”
Fabienne Pascaud - Telerama
“A group, seven actors who, like a jet, tell a story. They build, sentence by sentence, the life of Gorge Mastromas, from his conception in 1972 to his almost death - they will have the indecency to abandon this man, who has become monstrous, as he himself has put himself on the fringes of life. The actors, more numerous than the protagonists, are in turn the characters and breathe their souls into them.
…
Very creative, the staging of Maïa Sandoz brings the figure of Mastromas from the group to the intimate, from life turned towards others to total confinement, by light, the progressive reduction in the number of actors on stage, we sink with the man. The beautiful group cohesion comes at the expense of finer work on the psychology of the characters, but the virtuoso game is captivating. The decor, a simple rotating platform is in turn central ring, bedroom, street… Thanks to the light and a few ornaments, Sandoz creates almost cinematographic effects. She manages to make us feel the forest with a little water, soil and some dead leaves quickly placed on the set between two scenes: we believe it.”
Maïa Sandoz, masterfully
“In a few years, Maïa Sandoz has established herself as one of the most interesting personalities in the succession of stage direction… The actors, galvanized, are excellent. Aurélie Vérillon, ideal Tanagra, has a very strong presence and a sense of nuances, passages, quite impressive. Adèle Haenel, whom we had already seen excellent, in the hands of Maïa Sandoz, has the charm and fantasy that are appropriate. The boys too are all committed, daring, free and rigorous at the same time, all of them.
Here everyone goes from an embodied character to a profiteer of narrator, with a childlike virtuosity and a lot of intelligence and sensitivity. The form chosen by Dennis Kelly is very jubilant. But you have to follow.”
"The form is very jubilant (...). The actors, galvanized, are excellent. (...) We laugh a lot."
Le Figaro
"As part of the Charles-Dullin Encounters, the director presents a show as original as exhilarating, a play by Briton Dennis Kelly which tells the story of a man who is followed from his conception to his adulthood, from innocence to cynicism. Eight actors, including Adèle Haenel, are having a great time. In just a few years, Maïa Sandoz has established herself as one of the most interesting personalities in the field of stage direction.
Armelle Héliot-Le Figaro
“Fierce, Dennis Kelly's dark tale takes on a burlesque festive color thanks to the talent of director Maïa Sandoz. Borrowing the codes of a drifting society, mixing genres, she paints a funny and
captivating satire of the modern world dominated by capitalism and ultraliberalism. Worn by an amazing troop and accomplice of actors, this jewel of black humor captivates.
(…)
Energetic, dynamic, the whole owes a lot to the crazy talent of a troupe of actors in tune. All different, they bring their personalities, their flames to the project and seduce us. Obviously, there is the luminous Adèle Haenel. Hoarse voice, animal charm, it fascinates with its elegant and raw presence. But not only ... More discreet, Aurélie Vérillon literally explodes. A little bit of a woman, a veritable ball of nerves, it radiates, communicates warmth, a grace to the whole that bewitches us. Older, gray white hair, Serge Biavan passes with ease from the gruff man to the gentleman. The youngest, Maxime Coggio plays all his roles with accuracy and intensity. He is overwhelming as an indifferent and chilling grandson. Paul Moulin cleverly slips into the skin of an aging Gorge Mastromas, trapped in his lies, trapped in his ivory tower. Gilles Nicolas, silhouette of a dancer, brings a delicate dimension to the whole. As for Christophe Danvin, he gives the “la” to this choral show and his guitar enchants our ears.”
Mediapart
“It is the story of a man and the reflection of a system. A charge against ultra-liberalism which, by means of cynicism and venality, illusions and lies, is capable of killing the humanity which resides in each of us. A choral piece, at the same time funny and cruel, in which the actors of the Company L'Argument give themselves to heart joy in the service of a hectic staging and the dry, relentless and corrosive writing of Dennis Kelly, translated in French by Gérard Watkins. To accompany us, Maïa Sandoz who stages; and one of the actresses, Adèle Haenel who, despite her success in cinema crowned by two César, continues her adventure in the theater. The ritual slaughter of Gorge Mastromas is to be seen until tomorrow November 19, 2016, at the Théâtre-Studio d'Alfortville, then on November 25, 2016, at the Théâtre de Villeparisis, and from April 24 to May 5, 2017 at the Théâtre des quartier d'Ivry.”
"Mastromas Day 1"
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| Checking out the script |
Photos from Rehearsals in early July 2015 at Théâtre Paris-Villette before the Festival Contre Courant
More Rehearsals
Photographs from the Play
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