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| Nasi Voutsas and Bertrand Lesca in Palmyra. Photo: Alex Brenner |
Palmyra.
Conceived and performed
by Nasi Voutsas and Bertrand Lesca.Dramaturgy. Louise Stephens. Lighting
design. Jo Palmer. Touring technician. Ruth Green. Producers. Edward Fortes and
Jo Mackie. AC Arts Main Theatre . March 1-5
Adelaide Festival 2019.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Palmyra Photo: Alex Brenner |
I remember vividly the shock and
dismay at the willful destruction of ancient buildings and artefacts in the
Syrian city of Palmyra by the soldiers of ISIS. The questions flooded in. How
could human beings inflict such destruction on invaluable antiquities? What
kind of people are these who harbor no love or respect for ancient cultures?
Who is responsible for such an act of cultural violation? Is it the members of
ISIS who inflict the damage? Is it the foreign troops intent on defeating the
battle for an independent caliphate? Is it an inherent instinct within the
human struggle for survival.?
Actor, Nasi Voutsas portrays shock and disbelief at the sight of shattered
fragments of crockery by the side of a chair upon the stage. He moves to a seat
on the other side and sits, silent and still, alongside an unbroken plate. Fellow performer Bertrand Lesca begins the
music for “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” and both commence a circular dance on a trolley, with Lesca
swinging the trolley ridden by Voutsas.
Suspense and laughter swell throughout the audience with each turn and traverse
across the stage. The precipice of danger is imminent, only to be prevented by Lesca
as he grasps Voutsas’s arm and swings him in yet another direction. He is in
control., until the rising threat and undercurrent of violence emerges with a
clash of trolley and chair. The audience laughs as the trolley sweeps back and
forth, And then, as if in a moment of sudden realization, silence falls upon
the auditorium, and the mind fills with questions.
What is going on? Why is Nasi violently
wielding a hammer and screaming at high pitches of frustration? Why has the
relationship shifted from one of amicable playfulness to one of sinister
threat? Why is the audience being drawn in by Lesca to assist in
preventing the tension from escalating
into violent confrontation, as Nasi spreads the stage with shattered fragments
of plates. Whose side are we supposed to be on, that of the silent, sullen
Voustas or the enigmatic, charming and seductively plausible Lesca?
“What do you want?” Lesca asks.
The Frenchman and lover of art and culture seeks the answer from the silent
Syrian. “I want you to leave” comes the soft reply. Lesca leaves and the lights slowly fade
on the solitary figure circling on his stomach on the trolley in the centre of
the shattered remnants he has dispersed across the floor during his silent protestation
Palmyra is the theatre of debate.
It is a quest for comprehension, an understanding of psychological motive and
impulsive human response to conflict. Voutsas and Lesca have chosen to present
it as a hypothetical riddle, couched at the
outset in the comic action of sparring clowns before drawing the audience in to the
unsettling and bewildering relationship between two men from different
cultures. As such its success lies in the willing participation of an audience,
subtly persuaded by Lesca to be complicit in his argument
Palmyra casts a long shadow
over cultural and historical complexity. Provocative and confronting, the
performance invites active response, and yet no audience at the performance I
saw ventured on to the stage to help pick up the thousands of shattered fragments
of crockery strewn across the stage. Have apathy, fear and indifference to
other lives, other faiths and other human beings shrouded us in veils of
alienation? We are left to unravel the
riddle for ourselves. Palmyra
provides no answers except in our own imaginings. A short Q&A could have
helped to unlock the answers to the riddle. But this is theatre of the intellect,
challenging opinion, and provoking thought, and leaving one with the impression
we are all complicit in the act of destruction.