Societaire de la Coinedie-Francaise, Denis Podalydes came up with an original and very dark production. In the meantime, he remained faithful to the spirit of Victor Hugo’s original play.
The troubled sky with heavy clouds and pearly light gaps lights up and at the same time darkens the stage. This theatrical sky created by Eric Ruf who as an artist was inspired by Victor Hugo’s ink drawings and water colors and as a set designer was fascinated with the architecture of dreams, in the best way possible conveys the essential message of Denis Podalydes’s production.
The dim lights designed by Stephanie Daniel, Christian Lacroix’s fantastic costumes gleaming with all shades of black, the only exception being the scarlet dress of Duchess Negroni ... The music and other sounds blended together by Bernard Vallery ring about like at a funeral in harmony and amidst the deafening chaos.
When the curtain rises we see a gondola that looks like a catafalque in the middle of a lagoon surrounded by bristled up stakes. We are in Venice but these stakes move also to Ferrara like the aggressive symbols of the hostile world where danger is permanent and death is insatiable.
Every member of the audience has his own interpretation of this dramatic intrigue, reinforced by the immense visual power of Victor Hugo who weaves together this grotesque and splendid performance.
Le Figaro Magazine
