Do3 - The Comic Illusion

[french frank]

I haven't felt totally comfortable with the adaptations of French classics, and comedies are perhaps more difficult than tragedies. Not least because they aren't always funny . However, next week we have Corneille's L'Illusion Comique, not a play that I'm familiar with (as far as I remember).

"Ranjit Bolt's reworking of Pierre Corneille's classic comedy. An old man seeks his estranged son with the help of a wizard. The magician shows the grieving father the boy's recent life in the form of an action-packed comedy adventure."

Featuring John Sessions as Matamore.

The English Wikipedia has a plot summary which left me a little bewildered. Try the French one if you want to prepare for listening.

[Norfolk Born]

Having seen English Touring Theatre's brilliant production of Roger McGough's hilarious (verse) translation of 'Le Malade Imaginaire' (with Clive Francis in the title role) we've booked to see the same company's production of RM's translation of 'Tartuffe'.

[french frank]

Having seen English Touring Theatre's brilliant production of Roger McGough's hilarious (verse) translation of 'Le Malade Imaginaire' (with Clive Francis in the title role) we've booked to see the same company's production of RM's translation of 'Tartuffe'.

McGough's Tartuffe was on Radio 3 in 2009. And very good it was, as I remember. Molière, of course, specialised in comedy. I'm not sure how entertaining Corneille is, even when in comic mode.

[french frank]

Here's the discussion of Tartuffe from way back. As a matter of interest. We've also had Racine's Bajazet on R3 which I enjoyed, discussed here.

[french frank]

I enjoyed this performance and found it very pacy and amusing - funny at times . Ranjit Bolt's translation 'works' pretty well on its own terms, and the lines were generally delivered with a lot of verve. I didn't find the verse palled at all. Direction was good with sound effects adding a slightly mad impression.

The only comment I'd make is a general one: the original French alexandrines, I'm sure, would have had rather more sonorous dignity with none of the slang terms which littered this translation. The production lacked the qualities of French classicism but that is probably something that doesn't translate - least of all in a comedy - so this was perhaps the most practical way of handling it and making for an enjoyable ('accessible'? ) performance.

Interesting play. Very worthwhile production

[rank_and_file]

ff

Very much enjoyed Corneille's "The Comic Allusion" with the three in one plot and the rhymed couplets. At last a programme where some intellectual rigour has been put to good use.

[amateur51]

I enjoyed this performance and found it very pacy and amusing - funny at times . Ranjit Bolt's translation 'works' pretty well on its own terms, and the lines were generally delivered with a lot of verve. I didn't find the verse palled at all. Direction was good with sound effects adding a slightly mad impression.

The only comment I'd make is a general one: the original French alexandrines, I'm sure, would have had rather more sonorous dignity with none of the slang terms which littered this translation. The production lacked the qualities of French classicism but that is probably something that doesn't translate - least of all in a comedy - so this was perhaps the most practical way of handling it and making for an enjoyable ('accessible'? ) performance.

Interesting play. Very worthwhile production

Did this performance/production cause you to re-assess your views of Corneille, french frank or did you find that Bolt's demotics got in the way?

I really enjoyed it. I think I saw this translation in performance at some point in the '80s - was it at the Old Vic?

[french frank]

Did this performance/production cause you to re-assess your views of Corneille, french frank or did you find that Bolt's demotics got in the way?

No and no. I see from my collection of Classiques Larousse that I have Polyeucte (tragédie) and Le Menteur (comédie) dating from undergraduate days but I don't have any memory of either. But I do remember Le Cid which I studied for A Level. I meant to read Le Menteur to get a taste of Corneille's comedy but didn't get round to it

The production worked on its own terms for me so I wasn't too bothered that 'Essence of Corneille' was missing - which it surely was. Bolt's translation was a vital ingredient and probably made the play a lot more entertaining that it would have been if an attempt had been made to capture the rigid versification of the original.

[Russ]

I tried this last Sunday, but really struggled to get into it, finding it almost irritating in its affectation. Tried it again this evening, just before it disappeared from transmission, and enjoyed it immensely. (Goes to show how one's mood can alter receptiveness and perception.) Must admit I got lost completely at several stages with the convoluted plot, but the dialogue zipped along with such verve that it didn't seem to matter much. I have absolutely no knowledge of the original, but to get the humour and racyness and present it in a natural modern informal English seems to be an outstanding piece of translation.

Russ

[aeolium]

I too enjoyed this and thought the key factor was the pace which the verse translation gave the play, even though there were some horrible rhymes along the way! Also the actors all performed well - I especially liked the interchanges between Alcandre and Pridamant. The devices of the plays within a play were effective. I did like the horror with which Pridamant reacted to the news that his son had become an actor, as if a real death would have been preferable.

I agree that this was almost certainly nothing like Corneille's original in style, and a 'reworking' of the play, as it was described in the R3 blurb, is more accurate - but I also agree that it's hard to imagine a more faithful performance being as entertaining.

[french frank]

I suppose the French were brought up on French classicism whereas we were brought up on Shakespeare - two very different traditions, as Voltaire pointed out.

[tony yyy]

I thought this was splendid. We've had a few rhyming plays in recent years and I've mostly found them irritating. I'm not sure why, but this one seemed to work and the rhyming verse helped the pace of the story rather than impeded it. A clever plot and good performances all round.

[french frank]

I emailed the sunday.play to signal the general satisfaction with the production. I got an autogenerated reply some days ago saying if it needed an individual reply it would get one, otherwise it wouldn't. But I hope the message got through anyway

I'm still impressed by the ingenuity of the plot.