A decade ago Vanessa Van Durme had the idea of the show that now returns to the Piccolo in Milan, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of another Milanese theater, the Franco Parenti
The leonine voice of Vanessa Van Durme, although hoarse over the years and a life full of twists, bursts out warm and caressing from the handset. The company’s press office was categorical: no video interview for this woman who was a man, actress, author and unmistakable voice of the Belgian radio. The good old phone therefore, which on the other hand is perfectly suited to the adventure that is about to tell. In the best tradition of Monicelli-style gypsies, it all started with a phone call, or rather a round of phone calls. “When the company decided to resume the show, I was the last to be warned! After everyone else – at least those still alive – had already accepted. It is understandable, given the success of the first tour: over two hundred replicas from Adelaide to Moscow, from New York to Berlin. And the standing ovations at the end of each performance … but crazy, given the age! Anyway, I couldn’t back down! Especially since I was the architect of this extravagant project ».
In fact, ten years ago, his original idea of Gardenia: to bring together a handful of elderly retired drag queens and entrust their bodies, their art, their stories to a world famous choreographer, Alain Platel, appreciated for the light and profound humanity that goes through his shows.
The idea comes from a documentary, I am soon the last days of an artists’ cabaret in transvestite forced to close its doors. Even then it all began with a round of phone calls, with which Vanessa called together her lifelong friends: a nurse, an upholsterer, a white collar … In short, a diverse sample of humanity, united by a talent – so to speak – night. «And to think that ten years ago – she recalls – they raised endless doubts. “A dance show? At our age? But we haven’t been on the stage for years! Let’s not go into costumes anymore! With a reputable company like Les Ballets C de la B! Are you crazy?”. We hung out in the most sordid cabarets and nightclubs in the suburbs, when it was good … At the time of the first edition, they were in their seventies and had problems. Now that they go for the eighty they haven’t had the slightest hesitation … After all, it’s the last chance to see the show. It is the last tour. The last round of the waltz ».
Vanessa’s voice is veiled with nostalgia, the same one that pervades Gardenia – 10 years latera show that goes in a flash from euphoria to tears, from anger to tenderness, from pain to irony, from shame to pride. It is a virtue of the great artists to slip with ease from one register to another. It is daily bread for “Juanita da Buenos Aires”, “Greta von Saksen Coburgh”, “Brigita Garbo”, accustomed to constantly crossing – clandestinely, perhaps, who knows, not anymore? – the borderline between male and female, reality and fiction, darkness and light.
At the beginning of the show, Vanessa rattles off their stage names as if they were battle names, while their obscene feats and scandalous conquests become noble titles and medals of valor. She invokes them from the depths of memory and oblivion and they, the divas, obedient and meek, respond. They emerge from the bowels of the theater, but they are somewhat disoriented shadows, still in men’s clothes, like owls dazzled in the night. Then we are allowed to witness a metamorphosis. Slowly, through minimal, almost imperceptible gestures, they are transformed under our eyes: a hand that curves carelessly, hips that lurch mischievously, an ankle that arches gracefully. With their unmade make-up, the shreds of songs, the false eyelashes, the wigs, the snug dresses, the sequins, these hybrid creatures, semi-mythological and very human at the same time, coagulate. Nothing is missing from all the classic arsenal that we have come to know by now. They wear it with pride. «It is their armor – says Vanessa – with which they are invincible». Thus, one fragment after another, one brushstroke after another, with each round of the bolero, the scene tilts more and more until it shatters into a colorful, chaotic, liberating bacchanal. Those uncertain shadows have left the stage to new, proud, sparkling, vital figures. So full of life that they even seem young. That’s right, young at eighty and whistles.
In ten years the world, especially with regard to issues such as transition and gender identity, has changed a lot. Drag queens, transvestites and transsexuals have gained recognition and dignity. If the gaze of society has changed, in addition to the civil and political battles, in addition to the films of Almodovar and Priscilla queen of the desertit is also partly due to the ramshackle troupe of Gardenia. “Certain themes, fortunately, are no longer taboo – concludes Van Durme -, paradoxically, old age still is”. The Franco Parenti Theater and the Piccolo Teatro have joined forces to bring Gardenia – 10 years later in Milan. A show that celebrates theater and life in all its forms and ages. What a happy choice to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Franco Parenti Theater!
On stage at the Piccolo in Milan
«Gardenia – 10 years later
»Will be staged on 8 and 9 September at the Piccolo Teatro Strehler in Milan as part of the review
The Great Age
. It is produced by NT Gent
and Les Ballets C de la B directed by Frank Van Laecke, choreography by Alain Platel and music by Steven Prengels.The original project was born from an idea by Vanessa Van Durme. It is co-produced with Le Volcan Scène nationale du Havre in collaboration with the Lombardy Region / Department of Autonomy and Culture of the Lombardy Region.
On «la Lettura» the interview with the choreographer
In «la Lettura» # 562 of 4 September, on newsstands and in the App, the interview by Valeria Crippa with the choreographer Alain Platel (Ghent, Belgium, 9 April 1959) on the eve of his arrival on stage, in Milan and Reggio Emilia , from «Gardenia – 10 years later».
September 4, 2022 (change September 4, 2022 | 21:03)
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