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Maurice BEJART

Manuscrit expliquant sa pièce de théâtre "A-6-Roc" créée à Lausanne

s.d. [ca 1991], 21x29,7cm, 10 feuillets.

Manuscript explaining his play A-6-ROC first performed in Lausanne
 

Handwritten manuscript signed by the choreographer Maurice Béjart.

10 leaves written in blue pen. Handwritten pagination.
Maurice Béjart's handwritten proofs for his book Béjart-theâtre: A-6-Roc (éditions Plume, 1992), about his play A-6-Roc, first performed in the same year at the Vidy theatre in Lausanne.
After the foundation of “Béjart Ballet Lausanne” and his definitive departure from Belgium in 1987, Béjart continues to stage operas, produce films and publish several books (novel, memories, personal diary...). In addition, he wrote and directed his third play A-6-Roc performed in Lausanne in 1992, which he published with commentaries in a book entitled Béjart-theâtre: A-6-Roc. The play features seven characters in search of a lost paradise, and calls for a deep reflection on the choreographer's memory and childhood. Béjart takes the leading role and gives the lines to Gil Roman, his favourite dancer during the period in Lausanne, who will succeed him as the head of his company in 2007.
A-6-Roc was probably Béjart's favourite play and it will be the only one that he will agree to publish. Largely inspired by Jean Anouilh's theatre, and even more so by that of Eugène Ionesco, the play makes use of his childhood in the South of France. This manuscript, which provides valuable information on the staging and scenery, was published with the original play in 1992. The present, the past and the future come together in this play through three characters – a patriarchal figure played by Béjart himself, another embodying youth played by Gil Roman (“6 must be at least twice the age of Mr A. This generational difference creates their tension and also their bond.”) and a clown, called Roc, played by the actor Phillipe Olza. The influence of the theatre of the absurd is easily detected here, as much in the scenery choices as in the psychology of the characters: “the play's first scene, that can last from 3 to 6 or 7 minutes, is nothing but mechanical movement of the body [...] conjuring up the useless and empty activity of the world of concentration camps.”
The playwright Béjart nevertheless remains faithful to the “spectacle total” idea, for which he was well known as a choreographer. The play is inundated with dance and movement – particularly in the theatre choir (“four characters I should say, since nothing pleases me less than the uniformity of the Greek pseudo-choirs and other aestheticizing corps de ballet”) and Béjart devotes the last four leaves to the music (“it plays right through the play, like dolphins following a boat”) ranging from Nino Rota to the syrupy music of Jackie Gleason. Beyond the theatre, Béjart wanted, with A-6-ROC, to create a complete work of art, including all performance genres, and in this manuscript he demonstrates his talent as a playwright and a producer.
Invaluable manuscript on the last play that Béjart wrote, produced and performed. It features amongst the choreographer's very rare, privately owned documents, his archives being shared between his house in Brussels, the Béjart foundation in Lausanne and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.
Provenance: Maurice Béjart's personal archives.
 

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