Fighting Words
Nathalie Derome - Les 4 ronds sont allumés
Nathalie Derome's been doing crazy-assed theatre/performance/song productions for years around Montreal and elsewhere. Well-known in Quebec, though probably less so among anglos, Derome on stage is a diminutive woman with a big presence: wild costumes and sets with melodious, fractured music accompany her voice and gestures. With the recent release of the CD Les 4 Ronds Sont Allumés - 11 songs from her 1999 show of the same name - we get a further glimpse inside this artist's very different head.
Long time collaborators and "Musique actuelle" improvisers, guitarist René Lussier and keyboardist Guillaume Dostaler lend atmosphere to the songs as Derome describes a disturbing dream (Ah non! Anna), spits out a string of slang and profanity wordplay (Des mots d'la dynamite), or addresses her lover (Ton grand nez).
Still, there's the same problem in attempting (or even desiring) to classify a distinctive art - Derome does her own, unique thing. It has to be experienced.
She has referred to her combination of disciplines as "perforated theatre" (théâtre perforé), or more recently the aptly phrased "théâtre en forme de femme". That's the key idea - Derome feels conventional theatre too often follows a similar arc to male pleasure: you have an introduction, development, a climax, a resolution.
Not to belabour the metaphor too much, but her work has a different arc, or multiple arcs, or no arc - if you're a wiseass you might be thinking, "Know who had an arc? Noah." But seriously, it's a compelling CD: the songs (Derome calls them "chansons parodisiaques") have their own life outside of performance - rewarding stuff here for fans of the non-linear and non-obvious.
Nathalie Derome will unveil her new production "Du temps d'antennes" in Montreal in May 2001.
Les 4 ronds sont allumés, on the Ambiances Magnétiques label, is available in stores.
Nine Songs For The Middle Class
Sweatin' to the Oldies
Fly Me To The Moon...
Le grand spectacle
Show the world