Les Éphémères

While the title of this dramatic theatrical epic of everyday life, which premiered at New York's Lincoln Center Festival in 2009, could be translated as “ephemera,” the point of the play (running just under six hours) is arguably that the seemingly ordinary experiences of average people are what give human existence both its texture and meaning. Created by Ariane Mnouchkine and her troupe Théâtre du Soleil, Les Éphémères (performed in two parts with a brief intermission) consists of 29 episodes of varying length. These vignettes, devised through improvisation, are in some cases isolated events but often link up to form larger arcs. An early scene, for instance, depicts a grieving woman selling her deceased mother's house, with later sequences following her investigation of her mom's background, eventually leading to even other pieces set during her mother's past. Another string begins with the visit of a mentally addled old woman to a doctor's office and continues through several chapters to a final sequence in a hospital ward. With few exceptions, all are performed on circular platforms wheeled onto the stage by troupe members and then slowly rotated, so that for the viewer the effect is like a camera circling the action (to constant and evocative musical accompaniment). If there's a dominant theme here, it might be the relationship between parents and children—a familial emphasis accentuated by the fact that many scenes play out over dinner tables. Les Éphémères avoids big dramatic gestures and flowery language, ultimately pulling off the amazing feat of being both naturalistic and highly theatrical. A presentation of enormous cumulative power, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)