These performances usually question the notion of space in theatre. Both illusion and magic are preponderant in the Calentures. Jean Lambert-wild sees the Calentures as bouts of poetic fury, farcical at times, and at times tragic, that his striped pyjamas-wearing clown character experiences. To this day, twenty Calentures (see List of Calentures), 2 Confessions (Grande Lessive de Printemps (Great Spring Clean) in 1990 and Crise de nerfs – Parlez-moi d’amour (Fits of Hysterics – Tell Me About Love) in 2003), 2 Threnodies (Mue Sloughing) in 2005 and La Mort d’Adam (Death of Adam) in 2010, and 1 Epic (Splendeur et Lassitude du Capitaine Marion Déperrier (Splendour and Lassitude of Captain Marion Deperrier) in 1999) have been realised.
|
|
This is recurrently present in the Ecmnesia and the Calentures. The Ecmnesia is composed of the Confessions, the Threnodies and the Epics of the Hypogeum, along with other large-scale projects that aren't included in the Hypogeum. The Calentures are shorter performances, ranging from 15 to 45 minutes in length. They are created for specific occasions and are often site-specific (for festivals, in contemporary art centres, outdoors, in a public swimming- pool…).
|
|
This was the beginning of his Hypogeum, a complex body of work that Lambert-wild constructs over the course of his lifetime. The Hypogeum is composed of three Confessions, three Threnodies, three Epics, two Exclusions, one Dithyramb and 326 “Calentures”. Over the years, Lambert-wild has created a fantasised autobiography that nurtures his work for the stage.
|
|
This furthered his taste for theatre that is accessible and popular, challenging and groundbreaking. His theatrical experiments, supported by Le Granit, were well received by audiences who became loyal to his work. He explored different performance formats (large and small-scale, performances devised for private homes, Calentures etc.…) whilst also staging his own writing or the work of authors he admires, such as Pasolini or Kafka… During this period, he led several workshops, thus acquiring a solid experience as a facilitator of non-professional theatre.
|
|
The novel's title refers to a line from one of John Donne's epigraphs: > His mercies hath applied His judgments, and hath shaked the house, this > body, with agues and palsies, and set this house on fire with fevers and > calentures, and frightened the master of the house, which is my soul, with > horrors, and heavy apprehensions, and so made an entrance into me. This epigraph describes the basic theme of the novel: a troubled soul, the alcoholic Cass, is badly shaken by the "fire" of an encounter with evil, in the form of the aristocratic Mason Flagg. Ultimately, Cass' experiences with Flagg provide Cass with the inspiration he needs to redeem himself.
|
|