Espaece was a US premiere work of origin from France created
by theater director Aurélien
Bory. Spatial awareness was his canvas for this visual
art. Using acrobatic dancers, actors, an opera singer, a flexible wall and
more, he created a unique stage experience that focused on man's placement in a
space.
The show was created from the essay "Species of Space" by French writer Georges Perec. Perec
was orphaned when his father died in WWII and his mother was sent to
Auschwitz. The show opened with the book being manipulated into letters used to
create the writer’s words.
The essay, written with humor, wit and often personal childhood memories, illustrates Perec’s
obsession with space. He writes, “to live is to pass from one space to another,
while doing your very best not to bump yourself”.
The name of the show "Espaece" is the genius of Bory. It is the merger of the words species and space. Bory explains that his approach to theater is “putting the species in the space” or having them collide (watch here ).
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| Flexible wall used throughout the show |
He used the space above the stage by hanging three bars the
length of the stage. They swayed back
and forth as three dancers glided across
the bars at different speeds and in different poses. The dancers mesmerized us as they seemed to fly, swim, and
move in slow motion across the stage.
The show injected humor especially when one actor moved with lighting speed as he played
several characters. He told a childhood story using only
sound effects and pantomime. He was the mother, the boy, an airplane pilot and
more.
I know that this all sounds a bit "out there " and maybe that was the point of the show. It ended with green light beams capturing actors’ human
tracings on the wall. Was this an alien invasion or birth of the species? You get to decide.
Espaece was thought provoking and entertaining even if it’s difficult to explain. Leaving the show I thought, "I don’t know what that was but I liked it”! There was a universal thread of underling with Bory’s unique use of space to tell this story.
(For more shows from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust go to trustarts.org.)
(For more shows from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust go to trustarts.org.)
Spiritual Source
In the beginning God crated the heavens and earth. Now the
earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
Other Sources
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
