Le monodrame de Hsu Yen Ling

Hsu Yen-Ling + Sylvia Plath 

By BABOO LIAO/With Hsu Yen Lin, Ming Shuai Shih

Production: The Wild Shakespeare Sisters Group (TAIWAN) 

AVIGNON OFF 2009/Length of the Show: One hour

 

A red-hot mono-drama

Remix, Hsu Yen Ling’s mono-drama, is inspired by fever 103, a poem written by Sylvia Plath. She was an American poetess haunted by the idea of death, who killed herself, despaired by love, when she was 30. Hsu Yen ling, fascinating and disturbing, plays magnificently and brilliantly Plath’s character: she becomes completely this hurt woman, wild animal tortured by abused love and sickness. She’s belching, yelling, sighing, murmuring with fervour, violence, and despair the poetess’ words, rewritten by Chou Man-Nung – young Taiwanese author- like a theatrical poem. Baboo’s art direction is very rhythmic and spread intelligently and soberly the poetic whisper of this tortured writing. It swings between foolish and indolent scenes, showing the ambiguous relationships between Plath and her father, Plath and her husband, both beloved and hated men of her life. The spectator becomes the witness of the actress’ inner thruth revelation : Ms. Hsu defends body and soul this American author unknown in France. Ms Plath used to live into her husband’ shade, a famous poet, and suffered from the cruelty of a patriarchal society. Let’s hope this piece will be played one day in Marseille, at the theatre of Merlan, or the TNM La Criée, or anywhere else.

Diane Vandermolina/Translation: Audrey Husson