French Connection

Au Courant
- The Réjane Project was successfully work-shopped in L.A.
- Dramaturg Tonia N. Sutherland and I (writer/actress Ilana Turner) were invited to write and present an academic paper on how our research informed The Réjane Project creation
- Director Christopher Sivertsen recently played Oberon in the successful play Moon Fool and lead a workshop in New York
- Musical collaborator Adrien Reju was a winner and finalist in two songwriting contests
...read on for details
Réjane d’etre
In the fall of 2009, a successful workshop and showing of The Réjane Project (working title) was held in Los Angeles. The Réjane Project, an original theatre piece, is based on the life and work of Belle Époque actress, Réjane. For three years, I’ve been researching “The Queen of the Boulevard,” who was the most lauded comedienne of her time. Réjane’s most famous roles included Catherine Hübscher in Mme. Sans-Gêne and

Germaine in Amoreuse. She was one of the first Noras in A Doll’s House, which she played for Henrik Ibsen.

To quote Arthur Symons, legendary English drama critic, “Only three actresses in our generation possessed that supreme quality, Genius: Eleanora Duse, Sarah Bernhardt and Réjane” (Vanity Fair, October, 1920). These three women, along with Ellen Terry, helped shape the theatre we know today. Réjane and Bernhardt also helped shape the cultural and sociopolitical Paris we know today.

Truly a modern woman, Réjane toured the world, premiered countless plays, changed fashion, had children, married and divorced, and ran her own theatre at 15 Rue Blanche (now Théâtre de Paris.)

Pourquoi Réjane?
Réjane was the grandmother of my dear family friend, Marianne “Willie” Finckel. The long-standing friendship between my family, the Bermans, and the Finckels was forged through music and cast with poker. All world-class classical musicians, the Bermans and Finckels began playing and teaching chamber music together in the 1960s. Willie was a professional pianist who married a professional ‘cellist, George Finckel. With their sons Michael and Chris, and their nephew David, George went on to form the Finckel ‘Cello Quartet. Today the Finckels are among the most sought-after ‘cellists in the world. Chris is the ‘cellist in the Manhattan String Quartet; David is the ‘cellist in the Emerson Quartet; and Mike is a celebrated performer, recording artist, conductor and composer. Willie’s granddaughter and Mike’s daughter, singer-songwriter Adrien Reju, is collaborating to create music and sound for The Réjane Project. Adrien is the Second Overall Winner in 100% Music’s Songwriting Contest and one of twelve finalists in the 2009 New York Songwriters Circle Songwriting Contest.

It took 40 years of family friendship, my work in the theatre and a particular game of 7-card stud for Willie to mention that her grandmother had also been an actress. Before long, while standing in front of a Toulouse-Lautrec portrait of Réjane, Willy began to tell her tale.

Recherche
Since Willie first dit ‘Réjane,’ I’ve been on a colossal research mission. With generous access to original letters and photos; a multitude of library trips to the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (BnF, pictured below right), NYPL, LAPL, MoMA Film Library and more; plus interviews, research has been an all-consuming process. Research has been helped tremendously by Dramaturg Tonia N. Sutherland, Bucknell U. Records Management Coordinator and former U. Mass Archival Librarian. Tonia and I have been invited to write and present an academic paper for the 2010 American Society for Theatre Research/Theatre Library Association/Congress on Research in Dance annual conference. The paper will be based on our proposal, "Madame Sans Genre: A Unique Collaboration in the Process of Theatre and its Documentation," and will explore how our research informed the creation of original text. We were accepted and will be presenting a paper as part of the plenary, “Harnessing the Power of Performance: Documentation Strategies for Theater and Dance,” in Seattle in November.

While on a research trip to France, Adrien Reju and I toured the former Theatre Réjane (pictured, above left) and the Odéon, of which Réjane’s husband Porel had been the Director. We also visited their former country home, in Normandie, where we were lucky enough to meet its present owners and tour the phenomenal home and grounds.

Tremplin
I returned to France to take theatre workshops at Au Brana, in the Midi-Pyrénées. There I met the incredible performer Anna-Helena McLean (Gardzienice) and genius director/performer Christopher Sivertsen (Awake Project and Song of the Goat).

Christopher and Anna-Helena just finished playing Oberon and Titania in the very successful UK tour of Trestle’s Moon Fool, based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They subsequently lead an NYC workshop together based on their Moon Fool. Christopher’s company, Awake, (of which Anna-Helena is also a member) just debuted their new work last fall and continue to lead Youth workshops in the UK and Europe.

Christopher and Anna-Helena’s Au Brana workshops revolutionized my thinking about The Réjane Project. I was struck with Christopher’s ability to find the unique, internal rhythm of a piece and use it to direct the most intricate, integrated and interesting version of that piece possible.

Fortunately, Christopher accepted my invitation to come to Los Angeles this past fall to workshop the Réjane show with Adrien, myself and small company of actors. The show uses original text, text from the plays Réjane made famous, movement and music to tell the story of a woman who forged her own path through life and conquered both the Boulevard and the backyard. During the week-long workshop new scenes and songs were written and re-written; two characters were added; and a second act is now

being written. Selected scenes, music and movement were performed as a unified whole at the end-of-workshop showing.

I have been very lucky to collaborate with the L.A.-based ARTEL, a theatre company in residence at a great Hollywood rehearsal and performance space. Their generosity made the workshop process possible.

The Réjane Project workshop and showing marked the first (albeit informal) performance of a piece I would ultimately like to perform at what was the Théâtre Réjane, now the Théâtre de Paris. This show is also being created with an eye on Fringe Festivals, particularly Montreal and Edinburgh.

Impliquez-vous
The great news is that the workshop this past October was a huge success, captivating performers and audience alike. The content proved rich enough to fuel tremendous change and growth even in the course of one week. Christopher, Adrien and I collaborated very well, were really inspired by the workshop, and together, we can clearly see a long, lush trajectory for The Réjane Project.

As you well know, creating theater is an expensive and time-consuming process. Private donations made this workshop possible. We are in the process of applying for grants to fund a longer workshop and development period, as well as a first full production. In the meantime, however, work on text and music continues, and any and all additional financial support would be gratefully and enthusiastically appreciated.

Should you be willing to help fund the Réjane Project, DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE. The Réjane Project is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of The Réjane Project may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by the law. No amount is too small - seriously.*

HOW TO DONATE
1A. Choose your Legion rank and click on it below to make a donation.
1B. If you’d prefer to mail a check, please make the check payable to: Fractured Atlas (in the memo, please write “Project: The Réjane Project). If you have it, please send checks to my home address. Otherwise, the mailing address is: Ilana Krechmer c/o Reel Fitness 12215 Ventura Blvd. #107 Studio City, CA 91602.
2. Send an email to itoverdrive@gmail.com with your Legion rank and donation amount so that I can be on the lookout, and so that you can be credited appropriately in the showing program. (If you’d rather not be listed in the program, you can stay anonymous - please just let me know.)
3. A receipt for the donation will be issued by Fractured Atlas.

JOIN THE LEGION OF DONORS
Chevalier (Knight) $500+ Officier (Officer) $250 - $499
Commandeur (Commander) $100 - $249 Grand Officier (Grand Officer) $40 - $99

Grand'Croix (Grand Cross) $5 - $39
*While all contributions are welcome and needed, please note that if you join the Grand Croix, for amounts between $5 - $39, these contributions are sadly not tax deductible, only because our non-profit fiscal sponsor takes a processing fee, which almost invalidates these smaller amounts. To contribute small amounts, please send money to paypal account ilana@krechit.com. Be sure to click the “personal” tab choose “donation” from the list.

And THANK YOU.