Le Balcon (Jean Genet), 1999

On February 25-27 1999 Sacré Théâtre presented Genet’s extraordinary and extravagant revelation of the deadly fiction of image and role. Le Balcon plays out, in a brothel, the onanism of masculine fantasies of power, supervised by the arch-Foucauldian madame, Irma; ‘outside’, the Revolution approaches, avidly constructing its own figureheads. This production offered a rare chance to see Genet in French in the UK; whilst the text was cut to under 2 hours playing time, it retained Genet’s flexibility and power, and brought out the rich and satirical humour of the piece. The production was directed by Ralph Yarrow, who has acted and directed in most previous UEA French-language productions; it featured Dani Limon, equally central to the strong UEA French theatre tradition, as Irma, supported by both staff and students of both French and Drama at UEA. One of the driving forces in this Sacré Théâtre production was its cast which included both amateur and experienced actors many of whom were members of the teaching faculty.