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I, Corinne Dadat
Birmingham Rep, Door
***** MOHAMMED El Khatib is a daring
performance artist hailing from France. His previous performance at the
rep was a self-titled piece that showed us an introduction to his life
and cultural background, presenting his relationship with his mother and
other family members. In I, Corinne Dadat, Khatib uses similar
workshopping techniques to present a new and engaging piece of
performance art. This time he presents the voice of the unsung and
perhaps most invisible in society. This performance about the life and
thoughts of a cleaner he met in a rehearsal studio. Corinne gives a profound and touching message.
This workshop-style performance is the closest to real life as the
audience could reach. With the direction of Khatib, who is always
present on stage, reality is always present. Ms. Dadat is not a
performer. She is indeed the same cleaner from the rehearsal studio and
the platform of the stage opens a beautiful insight to the reasons how
art affects us all. In Dadat’s presentation, we hear a raw account of
all her personal thoughts and feelings towards the world around her. She
does not speak English and surtitles are projected against the back
wall. It is a beautiful, but heartfelt reflection on how the working
class live from day to day. In a verbatim style approach to developing
the script and final performance, we hear through pre-recorded tapes and
videos about Dadat’s views of everyday life. It is current and fluid
where her personal opinions are revealed about French politics, the wage
gap and of course Brexit. Through Dadat’s personal words and opinions,
Khatib explores the question of when our hopes and dreams for the future
diminish. Dadat explains through monologues that are prompted by the
questions of Khatib that at Fifty-two years old, she never envisioned
herself as a cleaner nor will she wish the profession for her children.
This makes the performance all the more thought provoking as we know
that her career is to clean, and the voice of the group she represents
are now heard at completely new level. The clever performance art project is enhanced by
dancer Elodie Guezou. Her part within the performance is to physically
embody the feelings which the script presents. Guezou has a profound
part within the project and Khatib holds the lives and experiences of
each woman in parallel with each other to show the similarities of human
need, even when life and career paths are completely different. Guezou is a vision to behold. With acrobatic form
and unbelievable flexibility, she twists and turns her body bending in
every way possible. She tells us that her chosen career path as a dancer
means that she lacks career stability and support for sustaining a
typical lifestyle. Khatib is also onstage, taking the role of
observer. Within the piece, it is clear that Khatib wants to capture the
process of rehearsal in action on stage. At the beginning, he appears
with a note book and pen, suggesting that even in performance, the
learning process is still not over. Fred Hocke’s stage lighting and
design are used to full effect, in order to reflect the workshop-style
element of the performance. House lights are not fully dimmed and the
bare open stage makes the human connection between performer and
audience all the easier to access. With each woman side by side, we see the
lifestyle differences and choices that are made by us all, influencing
our inner most thoughts and feelings, leading us to believe the
fundamental values within ourselves. Elizabeth Halpin 12-12-16
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