My Cultural Life: Lula Béry and Barbara Sylvain
The French actresses return to the UK with a show exploring one of British history's greatest rivalries: Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart. WIN tickets
It's so nice
Lula Béry and Barbara Sylvain will be performing their show It's So Nice at the Institut Francais in Kensington on the 9th December 2014. A pair of tickets to win for Culture Whisper readers: just email your name to ruth@culturewhisper.com to be in with a chance.
After a summer that has seen Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies storm the London stage, the next chapter in the bloody saga of the English monarchy is being explored at the French Institute next week. Not this time by a grand dame of British literature, but by French actresses Lula Béry and Barbara Sylvain.
The pair take on Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and Queen of France in a show that’s half physical theatre and half comedy. Based on Stefan Zweig’s novel Marie Stuart, it’s also bilingual, ‘using the mother tongues of each queen’ in which they communicated in an impressive collection of letters.
But what draws two modern-day actresses from across the Channel to the English monarchy, even if it was corresponding with a French Queen? ‘ We were fascinated by their personalities, their completely contrasting but inextricably linked destinies.’
It’s ‘a show that mixes History with intimate detail, fact and fiction, and the majestic with the ridiculous.’ History and fiction are inevitably entangled: ‘great historical figures have always been the subject of fables, myths, legends, films and plays. But reality surpasses fiction and is an inexhaustible source of inspiration.’
Back in the UK after a sell-out show in Edinburgh, we asked Lula and Barbara what’ll be on their cultural agenda in the capital:
Cultural Diary:
The Real Tudors at the National Portrait Gallery
While putting together the piece we drew a lot of inspiration from paintings and the many representations that have been made of the two queens. So we’re delighted to be able to discover some of the original artworks.
Bill Viola’s Martyrs at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and Anselm Kiefer at the Royal Academy
We admire both these artists hugely, and the themes they deal with tie up closely with new projects we’re working on at the moment.
The 2014 Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain
It’s always a pleasure to discover the works of the artists selected for this prize.
The tombs of Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey
Their tombs lie side by side in Westminster abbey, while history reports that the two queens never met while alive, even if Schiller imagines their meeting in his play. This is a powerful symbol for us - we mention it in the play, and want to see it with our own eyes.
What do you want to eat in London?
English breakfast, of course!
Where will you be seen this month?
At the Ciné Lumière of the Institut Français.
Which cultural figure do you currently admire?
To speak only of British figures, Ken Loach, Steve McQueen, Tim Etchells, Simon McBurney, John Berger are all catching our attention at the moment.
After a summer that has seen Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies storm the London stage, the next chapter in the bloody saga of the English monarchy is being explored at the French Institute next week. Not this time by a grand dame of British literature, but by French actresses Lula Béry and Barbara Sylvain.
The pair take on Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and Queen of France in a show that’s half physical theatre and half comedy. Based on Stefan Zweig’s novel Marie Stuart, it’s also bilingual, ‘using the mother tongues of each queen’ in which they communicated in an impressive collection of letters.
But what draws two modern-day actresses from across the Channel to the English monarchy, even if it was corresponding with a French Queen? ‘ We were fascinated by their personalities, their completely contrasting but inextricably linked destinies.’
It’s ‘a show that mixes History with intimate detail, fact and fiction, and the majestic with the ridiculous.’ History and fiction are inevitably entangled: ‘great historical figures have always been the subject of fables, myths, legends, films and plays. But reality surpasses fiction and is an inexhaustible source of inspiration.’
Back in the UK after a sell-out show in Edinburgh, we asked Lula and Barbara what’ll be on their cultural agenda in the capital:
Cultural Diary:
The Real Tudors at the National Portrait Gallery
While putting together the piece we drew a lot of inspiration from paintings and the many representations that have been made of the two queens. So we’re delighted to be able to discover some of the original artworks.
Bill Viola’s Martyrs at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and Anselm Kiefer at the Royal Academy
We admire both these artists hugely, and the themes they deal with tie up closely with new projects we’re working on at the moment.
The 2014 Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain
It’s always a pleasure to discover the works of the artists selected for this prize.
The tombs of Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey
Their tombs lie side by side in Westminster abbey, while history reports that the two queens never met while alive, even if Schiller imagines their meeting in his play. This is a powerful symbol for us - we mention it in the play, and want to see it with our own eyes.
What do you want to eat in London?
English breakfast, of course!
Where will you be seen this month?
At the Ciné Lumière of the Institut Français.
Which cultural figure do you currently admire?
To speak only of British figures, Ken Loach, Steve McQueen, Tim Etchells, Simon McBurney, John Berger are all catching our attention at the moment.
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