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Dancefloor Memories
Lucie Depauw
Dancefloor Memories
Photo: Cosimo Mirco Magliocca
Actes du théâtre n° 82.[ imprimer ]
3 crisscrossing voices (Age 70/80)
And sometimes snippets of tango jazz and other kinds of music
Pierre / Marguerite / Gary
A senior citizen love triangle
Infidelity / In the Past / In the Future / On Illness / Memory / Death the Last Dance / Desire / Sex / Keep Living after all/ Encore

In five movements with crisscrossing dialogue and narratives, two men and a women in their twilight years talk of the beauty of love and desire, to defy old age and their failing memories. The past and present echo one another, as their pieces progress parallel to each other. An unusual trio, Gary, Pierre and Marguerite love each other and have decided to face the passing of time and enjoy life to the last drop.

‘‘Pierre and Marguerite met, danced together, got married, loved each other a lot, and raised their children, who went on to start their own lives. But that’s the past. A past that increasingly escapes Pierre, now betrayed by his memory, impotent and helpless in the present, which he can no longer understand.
We’re more accustomed to seeing Alzheimer’s as a topic for the medical world, family discussions and societal debates. In DancefloorMemories, the brilliant young Lucie Depauw raises it to the level of literature. There’s no question here of pathology or the cost of eldercare, but rather what this forgetfulness puts the couple through, the wistfulness it inspires, the worry it triggers and the way it shows how memory is written in our bodies as much as in our souls. For the problem isn’t so much the illness as the passage of time, transforming our feelings and turning our lives upside down.’’
Frédéric Manzini, Regarts.com

‘‘Never vulgar, this story about adultery among senior citizens treats the phenomenon of aging with refreshing modesty. Its musical construction displays a wide array of tones, ranging from confidential asides to breezy and moving dialogue. Three trajectories that intersect, merge and start to detach under the benevolent gaze of Lucie Depauw. With staggering accuracy, the young playwright has figured out these slices of life on the wane yet still full of spirit, sensitivity and delicacy.’’
Thomas Ngohong, Hierautheatre.com

‘‘Light, fluid, sensitive, exquisitely musical, never wallowing in facile pathos, Lucie Depauw’s play is thought-provoking and unsettling, amusing, appealing and moving.’’
Thomas Baudeau , foudetheatre.com


‘‘The project to write Dancefloormemories first grew out of an impulse related to a call for radio plays around the theme of infidelity. Although the play was written for the stage, this starting point of a ‘writing dream’ had a strong influence on the form of the play and gave rise to a kind of score for the three voices of Marguerite, Pierre and Gary, a love triangle with senior citizens. From the outset I wanted to shift the theme to older people, and for the infidelity to be connected to something accidental, namely Pierre’s memory issues, and for it to be an opportunity to talk about desire for the other and for life, still alive for aging people and bodies. A porous temporality was established through these crisscrossing characters – between the past, the present and the still fierce desire to have a future even though their finitude is fast approaching.’’
Lucie Depauw

Staged at the Studio Théâtre de la Comédie Française, March 26-May 10, 2015.
Director: Hervé Van Der Meulen. Cast: Christian Gonon, Elsa Lepoivre, Hervé Pierre.

Characters : 1 women - 2 men -
Edition Koinè

3 crisscrossing voices (Age 70/80)
Some
Snippets or remixes
Of Accordion Tango Rock and Roll Jazz
And other music




2nd movement - Sunday( …)

MARGUERITE
Thank you for coming here
For this commemoration
Today you all have a camellia
On your lapel
That camellia is our love
Ripening love, last year it was golden
This year a camellia

PIERRE
The Lady of the Camellias takes my hand

MARGUERITE
The love between Pierre and me
A love that transcends
time, whole eras, children, forgetfulness
Who’d like some cake

PIERRE
Léonie says
what a fine speech


GARY
I’m getting goose bumps
Marguerite speaks about love so well
Marguerite you’ll reach a hundred too
Marguerite I’m settling down now

MARGUERITE
Marguerite says she can’t
Not today

GARY
She says she’ll come tomorrow

PIERRE
To Dance?

GARY
Yes

PIERRE
Léonie takes my hand

MARGUERITE
Who’d like some cake
We can’t let it go to waste now

PIERRE
There’s no hierarchy in forgetfulness
A man walks over


GARY
Marguerite are you crying?

PIERRE
He says
Don’t you recognize me?
MARGUERITE
Léonie is crying too
Even though she’s a tough cookie and is used to it

PIERRE
He says
Dad it’s me
Everybody stares at me
I forgot how to recognize my son


GARY
Marguerite I’m clearly in the way here
I’ll come back with my suitcase later on

PIERRE
My son
I worked hard to have a son
So did Marguerite


MARGUERITE
High sodium diet
lots of potassium, oyster plants and headstands
Pierre insisted on it