Our sixth French Night

        Our latest French night at the Cornelia Street Cafe was dedicated to theater with a play by Hervé Blutsch, named GZION, and translated by Sophia Tejeiro, a Masters student in translation at NYU

The readers were

       In English - Manoah Finston (Captain York), Tristan Jean (Sergeant Ptol) and Myron Mac Shane (Lieutenant Turt)- who are all in the doctoral program in French literature at NYU
   In French - Marie-Hélène Brabant(Captain York), Nathalie Bryant (Sergeant Ptol) - actresses, and Isabelle Milkoff (Lieutenant Turt), a French teacher at the LFNY


       Edouard Signolet, a French director, came especially for the event and directed them.

Gzion is a cosmic drama that tells the story of three men, the CaptainYork, the Lieutenant Turt and the Sergeant Ptol : "For nearly twelve years, their Gzion vessel drift in space and take them to an inevitable... death"

 Waiting for the reading to start...

 and making sure everything is OK and everyone is there.

Isabelle Milkoff is introducing the play and the readers, who are listening and can be proud to have among them a specialist of Admiral Brop poetry. 

"Admiral Brop ? You mean The Admiral Brop, Captain ? "

Let's get started, guys

"When I turned around, it had disappeared. I repeat when I turned around it had disappeared. Do you hear me, control tower... ?"

"Walking is the key Captain, and that's the truth of it !"

 "Plan the picnic, Sergeant, I love smoked salmon."

"That's a good idea, captain !"

"That's a very good idea"

 "Objection Captain ! We are lost in space nowhere near any forest, we have absolutely no idea as to where we are..."

"... our supply of fuel is practically empty, our rations of water are going to diminish, ..."

"We have only three bottles of red wine, one bottle of whiskey and a very meager supply of oxygen..."

 "Can I know, Sergeant  Ptol, what this getup means ?"

 "Turt, you see what I'm seeing ; Ptol is dressed up like a bear"

"I am not dressed like a bear"

 "The shortest jokes are the best"

"What do you propose Lieutenant ?"

" A bear hunt Captain"

"It's a very good idea. Plan the lunch Lieutenant, I love smoked salmon"

"I am not dressed like a bear"

"Cadet Naxe : According to the medcial examiner, they were dead some hours before running aground, Admiral

Admiral Brop : Have the bodies brought back and meet me at the base"

Sergeant Ptol, definitely dressed like a bear, in a discovery mission

We hope you enjoyed it and that you will join us for more Cornelia Street Cafe French Nights next year

Have a nice and lovely summer

The Cornelia Street Cafe French Nights are supported by the cultural services of the French Embassy in New York

Sixth French Night on 5/9/12

Our next French Night at the Cornelia Street Cafe will take place on the 9th of May from 6 pm to 8pm and will be dedicated to theater. We will be reading both in French and in English an entire one-act play, named Gzion.

Gzion is a « space drama » written by Hervé Blutsch and published in 2010, by Editions Théâtrales. The three main characters are Captain York, Lieutenant Turt and Sergeant Ptol. They are in their Gzion spaceship, somewhere in the outer space. It appears, though discussed in a very farcical way, that they have been lost for years. According to their on-board computer « their chance of survival is zero point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one ». Sergeant Ptol’s suddenly appearance as a bear changes the comical farce into a cruel tragedy.

This one act play was translated into English this last fall by Sophia Tejeiro, a NYU French studies graduate student specializing in literary translation

The reading will be lead by Édouard Signolet – a French director who will come to New York this spring to work on the play.

Join us for our strange and funny sixth French night

French Night 5

Our fifth French night took place on the 9th of February, at the Cornelia Street Cafe.

It was a star-studded night. We presented excerpts of three French novels published this last fall with a common theme : The American stars.

The first novel – Jayne Mansfield 1967 - by Simon Liberati, relates the days before the actress died on a car wreck in 1967. It’s Simon Liberati's 4th novel and has already been awarded the 2011 Femina Price

Beau Bothwell reads, in English, the opening pages of the book, describing the car wreck,

 with a beautiful yet horrific specificity.

 Here some people are reading the text almost as if by candlelight while others are riveted
by the spoken word itself.

  Muriel Resal reads the text in its orginal French

Isabelle Milkoff introduces the second novel, The rapture of Britney Spears / Le ravissement de Britney Spears by Jean Rolin.
The main character, directly inspired by Hollywood thrillers, is a French intelligence service agent who
was sent to LA to get in touch with Britney Spears in order to protect her from a possible rapture.
He lived the life of paparazzi, but without a car.

Tom Radigan begins the reading of
 the opening chapters which he translated for the occasion

Isabelle Milkoff follows by reading the text in French 

`

Then back to the English translation, when it is uncovered that B. S. went dining with "no underwear ! " 

 

The last novel but not the least is dedicated to Jimi Hendrix. The author, Lydie Salvayre, who has been published since 1990, celebrates Jimi Hendrix’s appearance in Woodstock in August 1969 when he played his now famous Star Spangled Banner.
The title - Hymne – is, in French, a play on words both on the American national anthem and the book’s celebration of Jimi Hendrix's life, music and rebellion.

Nathalie Roussel begins the reading of a chapter that  tells the Hendrix "Legend" says.

Then she reads the beginning of the chapter about Hendrix's grandmother 

and their close relationship.

Adam Kahan reads the end of the same chapter, translated for the occasion by Anne-Marie Gassier. 

The French night is over. Time for chatting and doing some last minute errands 

in the neighborhood, as for example getting some French baguettes

The baguette is not a reward for the reading, but it could be !

because it makes people very happy !

The French nights are supported by the cultural services of the French Embassy