Famed French director Eric Vigner is leading 7 Stages’ production of ‘In the Solitude of Cottonfields.’ (Photo by Bo Shell)
7 Stages launches ambitious translation of gay French playwright’s works Group brings Frenchman Bernard-Marie Koltes' 'In the Solitude of Cottonfields' to ATL
ATLANTA’S
THEATER
SCENE
IS
ABOUT
to
score
a
major
coup
as
7
Stages
prepares
to
bring
the
work
of
one
of
France’s
most
acclaimed
contemporary
playwrights
to
Little
Five
Points.
“In
the
Solitude
of
Cottonfields,”
one
of
the
final
plays
written
by
gay
Frenchman
Bernard-Marie
Koltès,
premieres
at
7
Stages
April
24
after
more
than
a
decade
of
work
to
secure
and
translate
the
moving
piece.
Since
his
AIDS-related
death
in
1989,
Koltès
has
posthumously
ascended
to
upper
echelon
of
French
playwrights
and
flirted
with
international
acclaim.
His
plays
have
been
produced
in
the
United
States
before,
but
they
relied
on
translations
into
what’s
known
as
British
English,
which
didn’t
make
them
the
best
fit
for
U.S.
audiences.
“The
owner
of
the
rights
[to
Koltès’
plays],
his
brother,
François,
feels
that
these
plays
don’t
capture
the
fascination
that
the
author
had
with
culture
in
the
United
States,
especially
western
films,”
says
Del
Hamilton,
artistic
director
of
7
Stages.“These
plays,
I
wouldn’t
say
are
about
popular
culture,
but
they
make
it
more
Americanized
than
the
former
British
versions,”
says
Hamilton,
who
has
worked
for
almost
two
decades
to
stage
Koltès’
works.
7
Stages
is
the
first
American
theater
to
showcase
the
new
translation
of
Koltès’
“In
the
Solitude
of
Cottonfields,”
and
the
theater’s
artistic
associate
Isma’il
ibn
Conner
is
playing
an
integral
role
in
adapting
Koltès’
work
for
English-speaking
audiences
across
the
globe.
François
Koltès
personally
tapped
Conner
to
do
new
English
translations
of
all
of
his
brother’s
plays.
“There’s
a
rhythm
to
it,
to
me,
that’s
akin
to
jazz
or
akin
to
rap.
There’s
something
about
it,
this
musicality
in
the
language
that
draws
you
in,
makes
you
feel
it,
sense
it,
and
be
alive
in
a
way,”
Connor
says.
“The
existing
translation,
to
me,
it
didn’t
capture
the
musicality
—
it
was
a
completely
different
play,”
he
adds.
HAMILTON
FIRST
CAUGHT
WIND
OF
Koltès’
rising
star
while
traveling
in
Berlin,
where
he
heard
about
a
dynamic
young
writer
in
Paris.
The
two
spoke
over
the
phone
and
agreed
to
meet
at
Koltès’
home,
but
the
French
playwright
was
too
sick
for
company
by
the
time
Hamilton
arrived.
“Like
so
many
people
from
the
early
days
of
the
epidemic,
he
didn’t
want
to
talk
about
his
health,”
Hamilton
recalls.
“And
yet,
he
couldn’t
help
but
talk
about
it
because,
of
course,
it
affected
how
he
thought,
how
he
felt,
whether
he
could
go
out
and
get
a
croissant,
or
if
he
had
to
stay
in
the
house.”
Gay
themes
were
not
a
major
part
of
Koltès’
work,
but
his
sexual
orientation
undeniably
influenced
his
writing.
“His
plays,
I
think,
reveal
a
kind
of
sensitivity
to
themes
that
are
of
appeal
to
homosexuals,
but
his
plays
are
about
the
larger
questions
of
existence,”
Hamilton
says.
In
“Solitude,”
Koltès
explores
the
nano-second
two
men,
a
black
man
and
white
man,
meet
for
a
business
transaction.
It
remains
unclear
exactly
what
is
being
sold
and
purchased,
and
the
play
uses
the
interaction
to
look
at
death,
capitalism
and
race.
“It’s
very
important
to
be
here,”
says
acclaimed
French
director
Eric
Vigner,
who
was
brought
to
7
Stages
to
direct
the
show.
“I
think
about
the
history
of
Atlanta,
the
geographic
situation,
the
cultural
situation,
and
it’s
really
good
to
be
here
to
do
this
play,”
Vigner
says.
“In
Boston,
for
example,
it
will
have
no
sense.”
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
