CLICHES ECOSSES
Actualisation le 23 mars 2010
PREMIERES OF WEEK ENDS ECOSSES IN FRANCE
ENGLISH VERSION on the 2nd December 2009
Friday 6 November
As well as setting up the exhibition, Theo and I had a go as "tour-guides" as we took children from the CP, CE1 and CE2 classes (Primary three, four and five) from the local school in Coutnernon behind the scenes of the weekend's festival. Seventy little nippers accompanied us on a stroll through the labyrinth of photos still yet to be hung, and every one of them was excited to learn about the book and the play. "But did you see the Loch Ness monster? Is it true it's a girl?", "Hey, miss, why are the actors speaking a funny language?", "Miss, how do you say "goodbye" en anglais?". And then, with no pause for breath, the doors to the exhibition were thrown open and the first visitors began to arrive.
Sophie Lhomme, piper
One speech from the mayor and one or two beers later, Théo and I sat down to watch the first performance of the show "Lost in Scotland", surrounded by an audience in fits of laughter. Suffice to say, we thought that Christmas had come early so good was the theatrical adaptation of our book.
Lost in Scotland
Saturday 7 November
It's never the same day twice. Saturday afternoon saw some very quiet visitors shuffle into the exhibition hall. And at the same time, under the gaze of a Highland sheep, looking down from its mounted frame, Joanne gave a bilingual theatre workshop.
Holed up in the library corner of the exhibition, François Olivi and Alex Maclachlan gave a public reading of an extract from the book: the story of the Bruichladdich distillery. It really was an afternoon of theatre, from the sketches produced by the workshop participants to the performances of the two readers from France and Scotland. And the visitors continued to slalom their way through the exhibition, taking in the postcards of Edinburgh and the artist's book workshop.
Jessy Gilbert, part-time bookseller Alex Maclachlan, reader/chef/native
After that, and because you can never get enough a good thing, Théo and I returned to the front row of the stalls for another playing of our early Christmas present.
Curiouser and curiouser. On Sunday, it felt like a whole week passed in just a few hours; you see, I accompanied my mother down to Lyon to pick Sheila, our favourite caller, up from the airport. After a flight from Edinburgh to London, a night in a hotel, and lost baggage (her suitcase had actually remained in Scotland), Sheila arrived happy and smiling... with her hands in her pockets! Another two hours on the road, a seat in the front row for the show, and fifteen minutes spent rehearsing in the kitchen with the musician (obviously, the two had never met before that afternoon), and Sheila was ready to take the mic and show all the Frenchies how they ceilidh in Scotland.
Sheila McCutcheon, caller Christopher Frontier, musician
The end of one thing is always the beginning of another: the final curtain has only just come down on our Scottish weekend, but we are already preparing for our next events which will take place in April (in Ile-de-France, Normandy and Brittany), in June (in Scotland), and in August (for the Edinburgh Fringe).
Of course, you will all be kept informed as to the exact dates of the upcoming events. In the meantime, don't forget that you can still order the books, the special artist's books, photos and calligraphy from the "Shop" section of the website. And the English version of Clichés Ecossés, Scotching Scottish Clichés, will be released on 2 December, 2009.
After a year of tireless work and no little effort, both in France and in Scotland, the book release and the premieres for the exhibition and the show "Lost in Scotland" (inspired by
Clichés Ecossés) finally took place over the weekend of the 6th November in France. The location for such a momentous occasion was Couternon, in Bourgogne, the region where both Théo and I grew
up. We joined forces with the municipal council to put on a weekend-long festival which really took on an international flavour: as well as the members of Theatraverse from Finland, New Zealand,
Algeria and Scotland, we also welcomed visitors from all over Europe, including Spain, Belgium and Germany.
So, for all those who could attend, for all those who wanted to attend, and for all those who are going to attend the forthcoming events, here's a little look at what happened over the weekend.
So, for all those who could attend, for all those who wanted to attend, and for all those who are going to attend the forthcoming events, here's a little look at what happened over the weekend.
Lost in Scotland
Friday 6 November
As well as setting up the exhibition, Theo and I had a go as "tour-guides" as we took children from the CP, CE1 and CE2 classes (Primary three, four and five) from the local school in Coutnernon behind the scenes of the weekend's festival. Seventy little nippers accompanied us on a stroll through the labyrinth of photos still yet to be hung, and every one of them was excited to learn about the book and the play. "But did you see the Loch Ness monster? Is it true it's a girl?", "Hey, miss, why are the actors speaking a funny language?", "Miss, how do you say "goodbye" en anglais?". And then, with no pause for breath, the doors to the exhibition were thrown open and the first visitors began to arrive.
Sophie Lhomme, piper
One speech from the mayor and one or two beers later, Théo and I sat down to watch the first performance of the show "Lost in Scotland", surrounded by an audience in fits of laughter. Suffice to say, we thought that Christmas had come early so good was the theatrical adaptation of our book.
Lost in Scotland
Saturday 7 November
It's never the same day twice. Saturday afternoon saw some very quiet visitors shuffle into the exhibition hall. And at the same time, under the gaze of a Highland sheep, looking down from its mounted frame, Joanne gave a bilingual theatre workshop.
Joanne Allan, theatre director
Holed up in the library corner of the exhibition, François Olivi and Alex Maclachlan gave a public reading of an extract from the book: the story of the Bruichladdich distillery. It really was an afternoon of theatre, from the sketches produced by the workshop participants to the performances of the two readers from France and Scotland. And the visitors continued to slalom their way through the exhibition, taking in the postcards of Edinburgh and the artist's book workshop.
Jessy Gilbert, part-time bookseller Alex Maclachlan, reader/chef/native
After that, and because you can never get enough a good thing, Théo and I returned to the front row of the stalls for another playing of our early Christmas present.
Lost in Scotland
Sunday 8 NovemberCuriouser and curiouser. On Sunday, it felt like a whole week passed in just a few hours; you see, I accompanied my mother down to Lyon to pick Sheila, our favourite caller, up from the airport. After a flight from Edinburgh to London, a night in a hotel, and lost baggage (her suitcase had actually remained in Scotland), Sheila arrived happy and smiling... with her hands in her pockets! Another two hours on the road, a seat in the front row for the show, and fifteen minutes spent rehearsing in the kitchen with the musician (obviously, the two had never met before that afternoon), and Sheila was ready to take the mic and show all the Frenchies how they ceilidh in Scotland.
Sheila McCutcheon, caller Christopher Frontier, musician
Ceilidh
The end of one thing is always the beginning of another: the final curtain has only just come down on our Scottish weekend, but we are already preparing for our next events which will take place in April (in Ile-de-France, Normandy and Brittany), in June (in Scotland), and in August (for the Edinburgh Fringe).
Of course, you will all be kept informed as to the exact dates of the upcoming events. In the meantime, don't forget that you can still order the books, the special artist's books, photos and calligraphy from the "Shop" section of the website. And the English version of Clichés Ecossés, Scotching Scottish Clichés, will be released on 2 December, 2009.
The team, a little bit all over the place
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isabellegilbert@clichesecosses.com
theodoraolovi@clichesecosses.com