La Une in English: March 2007

Editorial --Anna Cumbie, editor Hail in Toulouse: surprise! Airbus experiencing turbulence --Moustapha Minte Birthdays in April 2 : Maggie 16 : Sara Cliquez ici pour retourner à la version française.

Canal du Midi --Heidi Kim A Writer in our midst A Day in Carcassonne --Meredith Ship Alienating an Audience Using texts from A Season in Hell and letters written to the poet Arthur Rimbaud during a period of crisis and genius, Didier Carette’s staging at the Theater Sorano distract and detract from the words’ inherent pain and depth. The double expression of Rimbaud’s being, via a traditional image of the tortured romantic and the other an angelically demonic harlequin came off as ridiculous rather than serious. The frenetic leaping between text, singing and leaping around the stage spastically forbids fully entering Rimbaud’s world, despite the cast’s unfaltering intensity and commitment. Charlotte Castellat’s original accompaniment on cello and violin stayed more faithful to the intensity of the verses’ pure emotion. All in all, the idea to creatively interpret one of Rimbaud’s most intense works fell short of its potential due to a zealous excess of avant-garde. Despite the technical precision and skill, Rimbaud Enragé (“Rimbaud Enraged”) from Toulouse’s Theater Sorano falls short of fully engaging the audience. --Written and translated by Joanna Freudenheim French, language of authority --Heidi Kim