In the morning we met in a café with Jos Houben, actor and faculty at the Theatre LeCoq. Jos has worked with Complicité Theatre Company and Peter Brook, two of contemporary theatre’s most innovative thinkers. Additionally, Jos’s recent physical comedy master class, "The Art of Laughter" has received rave reviews throughout Europe. Jos discussed developing the show and locating resource material. He also shared his teaching philosophy, and gave specific examples of helping his students discover their own essential performance elements through physical exercises and exploratory studio work.
From our café talk, Jos led us over to the performance of the 2nd year LeCoq Theatre acting students. We joined an audience of sixty invited guests to view eight short performance events. The student actors develop a script based on a suggested phrase; they direct and, often, perform in these bright new theatre works. Ranging from humorous to deeply evocative studies, the honesty of the performance resonated in each work.
We continued discussing these thoughtful creations as we walked to the Marais for a falafel lunch.
In the afternoon we visited the photography show "Paris D’Amor" at the Hôtel de Ville. We enjoyed a lecture and an accompanied tour through the show by the photographer himself, Gérard Uféras, who answered questions while sharing stories and experiences from the creation of this work. Over the course of two years, Gerard photographed seventy couples, ranging over Paris's 20 arrondissements, on their wedding day. As a child of immigrants himself, Gerard has a deep appreciation for the cultural and ethnic diversity in France and the opportunity that the nation affords its immigrants. It is with a subtle nod to these sentiments that his work celebrates the diversity within Paris and captures the sense of hope that transcends wedding celebrations.
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