French Spirits
Writer and director: Collaborative script
Producer: French Connection
Scarlet Weasel, Redfern
June 25 – July 6
Bored with television? Looking for a unique and engaging experience? Of course you are, so pop along to Scarlet Weasel, a funky little bar at 169 Regent Street, Redfern, and immerse yourselves in French Connection’s latest inspiration, French Spirits.
Created in collaboration with the play’s enthusiastic performers Lucie Brumont, Audrey Heppell, Daniel Heppell, Helene Semere and Gerry Sont, French Spirits is an intriguing amalgamation of differently sourced monologues shaped into a whole by its topical theme.
It is early evening when Emilie (Heppell), an astute, feisty barrister fresh from the court, meets up with her friend, Julie (Brumont) in Julie’s bar, the Scarlet Weasel. Julie is a barmaid who dreams of becoming a successful actor. Engaged in their own conversation – Emilie high on her own cleverness – they fail to notice Adele (Semere) sitting alone and preoccupied until she begins to weep inconsolably. They begin to share their feelings, bonding temporarily, and as they talk the bar becomes an in-between space, sometimes real, at others an imaginary.
You will recognise the words of some of the more well-known characters from film and theatre. It is hard to miss the arrogance of Prima Facie’s barrister as Heppell’s gestures poke holes in a witness or the bitterness of the Marquise de Merteueil (Dangerous Liaisons) as Brumont scathingly defends her cruelty. In contrast, Semere delivers Joan of Arc’s longing for the natural world as she renounces her confession with a dignified passion, and again, you’ll be surprised when Scott (Daniel Heppell/Gerry Sont), a hatchet man from Pulp Fiction, explodes into vengeful wrath.
Besides being a magical tour of intense emotions, there are many comedic moments.
The ladies keep up a funny chitchat as they move seamlessly from interlude to interlude and Scott, for instance, must wait for the ladies to pass out from a mixture of alcohol and emotional fatigue before he can say his piece. When it is time to depart their surreal world, they do so amid a babble of such absurdity that it makes you doubt your sanity.
Be prepared for an immersive experience as the actors move around freely, sometimes behind the bar, and sometimes walking the length of the room. You are bound to be directly confronted by an outstretched finger or a hard stare, and the contact adds to the fun and dynamism of the whole piece. The hour flies by before you know it, and then you can have a drink or two yourself.
