With his play, La Leçon, Ionesco denounces the use of language as an instrument of power. This play, written in 1951, explores a teacher's domination of his pupil through his superior use of language, resulting in her death. Eugène Ionesco is one of the most celebrated dramatists of the theatre of the absurd. The director Oleg Kisseliov, has chosen a modern approach in linking the physical and metaphysical elements of this tragic farce, revelant to today's audiences. The actors' corporal language, pushed to the extreme, plunges the audience into a strange universe of movement, music and words. On an eclectic bed of jazz and new music, the actors physical movement and Ionesco's text creates a rhythmic, explosive show where the absurd borders on outrageousness.

"Rarely has the work of Ionesco been so spectacular, palpable,
visible. A show carefully produced, remarkable for set, lights
deserving of a prize, direction and acting….. The direction that
touches on, from my point of view, Genius."
    LA PRESSE, March 2001

"I must tell you that Oleg Kisseliov's direction of La Leçon is remarkable. Oleg veritable artist "real" and it works the way he deconstructs La Leçon to realize his directorial vision and to let us rediscover the profound meaning of this text. We really enter into another universe, we go further than Ionesco goes finally… It is a work of profound reflection on a text. It's formidable."
   RADIO-CANADA, March 2001

"Kisseliov is maybe the most fascinating director in Montreal at this moment with Dennis Marleau of course… with La Leçon by Ionesco, he proves he is an artist. Paradoxically, this version presents us with an explosive element where our usual references are absent, and a harmony born of collective uneasiness to provoke the spirit to understand the mechanism, reflection, reaction and expression. La Leçon disturbs yet leaves its mark."
    LE DEVOIR, March 2001

Notes From The Artistic Director

La Leçon by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1951, reflects the philosophy of the artist. This short piece is an excellent example of the surrealistic world of the author.

Our greatest challenge in producing this play was to discover an approach palpable for a modern audience within the physical and metaphysical elements of this tragic farce.

The metaphysical absurdity present in Eugène Ionesco's dramatic style - inherent in the nature of theatre of the absurd - exposes the humain condition. With todays globalization and the advent of communications technology, a modern audience is sensitive to the human condition above and beyond culture references, nationalism and politics. This new reality has inspired our work in producing this play.

The vast experience the director Oleg Kisseliov gained in Moscow and Europe along with his unique approach in directing touches on principals fundamental to a modern theatre. His technique incites the actors to reconsider their psychological nature and physical condition and how this influences the theatrical environment. Jazz music is predominant and actors must use their corporal training to follow tempo, rhythm and strong beat much like a musician plays his instrument.

With this production, the three main roles are supported by a chorus who expresses their interior world, thoughts and emotion. The actors become free to improvise with their partners within the confines of an organic structure present in nature and three dimensional space : they are the central point of this work and by their interpretation, we can demonstrate what is possible to understand of the complexity of human nature.

top