THE ART OF SUCCESS 

music for theatre

music & sound design by Jérôme Baur

SAMPLE

Pulloff Théâtres, Lausanne - Switzerland, 2007

THE ART OF SUCCESS - L'ART DU SUCCES by Nick Dear

London, 1730... Between alcohol, drugs, sex and bad pubs, through the executions and political intrigues of Queen Caroline of England and Prime Minister Walpole (all historical characters), the painter William Hogarth and the writer Henry Fielding launch the bases of what will become the copyright!

PRESS

Jouissive decadence on the Pulloff stage in Lausanne, Switzerland. Geoffrey Dyson presents a creation tinged with lust and horror in Lausanne: we love it. 

AMAZING! The art of success: an atmosphere worthy of the best horror films.
/ DR. Culture.

There are atypical shows, which, whatever their weaknesses, will remain engraved in the minds. Such is the case with The Art of Success by British playwright Nick Dear, directed by Geoffrey Dyson at the Pulloff in Lausanne.

The atmosphere is that of 18th century London, between foggy alleys and private salons where alcohol and rich substances of desire flow at full speed in exchange for a few coins. Because it must be said, The Art of Success wallows in lust and dirt, but in such a relevant, funny and fantastical way that the adhesion is total. Even more: enjoyable.

And yet, staging this play with multiple plots was a challenge. No less than eleven characters (played by nine actors) are jostling each other in this text that is as much social satire (good Catholicism versus the joys of lust), political (the question of censorship and ownership of a work of art) and human.

The play features two artists, the painter William Hogarth (Frank Semelet) and the writer Henry Fielding (Pierre Banderet), who are prey to the desiderata of Queen Caroline and Prime Minister Walpole (all historical figures). But at the heart of this story, the author draws with intensity more heartbreaking personal dramas.

For example, Sarah, a murderer in prison (sublimely played by a raging and devastated Sibylle Blanc) who, on the eve of her execution, wants at all costs to recover the portrait that was painted of her. Or Louisa, the prostitute with a broken heart under the costume of a devil (Anne-Catherine Savoy) and Jane (Virginie Meisterhans), the wife with the disillusions of a good parishioner.

To these dark pains, answers a ferocious humor, devilishly playful and subversive, whose most hilarious moment will remain the scene where the minister takes off his pants under the tyrannical eyes of a playful queen. Or the irresistible character of the brothel leader, played with fire by Sara Barberis.

Geoffrey Dyson offers us here an atypical show: to the refined decor, made of only piles of removable printed sheets, responds an atmosphere worthy of the best horror films, vaporous jets of light and a soundtrack where cries and church chants answer. Intense and bewitching.

FOLDER THEATRE

CREDIT

on stage : Sarah Barberis, Sibylle Blanc, Virginie Meisterhans, Anne-Catherine Savoy, Pierre Banderet, Bernard Escalon, Jean-Gabriel Chobaz, Franck Semelet, Edmond Vullioud

Translation: Antoinette Monod and Geoffrey Dyson
Scenography Nicole Grédit
Lighting: Alain Boon
Costumes: Diane Grosset
Look : Viviane Lima
Music and sound design: Jerome Baur

GALLERY