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“The Belly of Paris” (a residency presentation) – David Lane Theater
About the Show
Artist and theater maker David Lane will bring a puppetry adaptation of Emile Zola’s novel “The Belly of Paris,” an epic tale of the working class in 19th-century Paris.
Written in 1873, “The Belly of Paris” follows two families during the Second French Empire, and Zola’s first novel entirely about the working class. To reinforce the values of the characters and the story’s place in time, David Lane is using only materials that would have been around in the 1870s—favoring wood, paper mache, natural fabrics—rather than moldable plastics and other newer puppetry tech.
“It’s our own small act of resistance against the plastics industry, which permeates too many aspects of modern life.”
Lane is based in North Adams and grew up in Canada. His puppetry collaborations often take him abroad, and are rooted in history or current events—The Return of the Buffalo to Banff National Park; The Story of Rose Valland, who helped save countless European paintings from destruction during WWII; a narrative play about Newfoundland’s tradition of mummering.
Because one of Zola’s best friends was the painter Cezanne (and because Cezanne was the inspiration for a character threaded throughout Zola’s series), Lane is building a saturated and layered look into his puppet characters to match Cezanne’s style. Ontario based artist, Clelia Scala will be joining him in the spring to help construct the puppets, and Lane’s daughter Sophie, a music student at McGill, will compose original music for the piece. Once rehearsals begin, he’ll be working with puppeteer Genna Beth Davidson, and Shoshana Bass, Artistic Director of Putney-VT based Sandglass Theatre Company, who will serve as an outside eye.
Lane will be in residency at the Adams Theater August 24-September 6, with a workshop presentation on September 6. There will be some scenes bordering on mature (“political intrigue as well as some sausage-handling,” Lane says) and a talkback for audience members.
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