EIF 2023 Cécile McLorin Salvant: Ogresse
Festival Theatre 5th August Review
Festival Theatre 5th August Review
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Ogresse at The Festival Theatre Edinburgh, a one night only performance that was part of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, was a creative trip into a visual and audio wonderland that although very contemporary still has its roots firmly in those old stories of traditional folk tales and classical music forms.
With this musical fable Ogresse, Cécile McLorin Salvant (music and story writer) is taking us into a story that never seems to go away in old European and Russian folk-lore (and other cultures too), that of the dreaded terror of the creature that lives in the woods, and this creature is so often female, often a witch or some other ogresse. All the elements, all of the darkness of those stories, are here, but this story is also told with humour and at times a smile and there is that sense of, The Brothers Grimm meeting Roald Dahl throughout many moments of this narrative.
As Cécile McLorin Salvant draws you into her narrative, projected art on a large screen at the back of the stage also sets a very visual tone to this story whilst the music itself is in the form of a cantata and it is here that the magic really starts to happen.
The music was arranged and conducted on-stage by Darcy James Argue, and the 13 piece orchestra of multi instrumentalists created a very unique soundscape to the world of Ogresse as, here, Cécile McLorin Salvant’s musical score takes us on a magical journey through seventeen songs that see her effortlessly blend folk, baroque, jazz and country together. Here, dark stories also meet “The Great American Songbook” at times whilst Cécile slips in and out of different characters as her story unfolds.
Wisely, this story is not what it seems on the surface and Ogresse is not only given a reason for being in the woods, but also given humanity. This Ogresse is lonely, and desperate to have someone to love her for who she is. For a short time it looks like her dream will come true, but of course this is folk-lore and there is a bitter twist in this fable too.
There are, of course, many other layers to this work and starting to examine these in detail would take up much more space than this review has but at its simplest form, this story is several things underneath its musical fable cloak. Ogresse is a homage to the Erzulie, the Haitian Goddess of love as painted by Gerard Fortune, and to Sara Baartman, a South African woman who was exhibited as a so-called “freak show” attraction in 19th century Europe.
Underneath the layers of music and folk-lore the ugly face of European exploitation of many cultures across the world tells a story far uglier than anything that the people in the village at the edge of the woods where Ogresse fled to wanted to attribute to her.
To pick out any one of the exceptional thirteen musicians on stage this evening might be a bit unfair, but so often in this story the beating heart of Ogresse is the sound of a double bass, and Yasushi Nakamura is an exceptional player. Throughout this story unfolding he was pretty much always there while other members of this orchestra gave the story of Ogresse specific dynamics whenever the story required it.
Ogresse is currently in development to become an animated feature-length film, which will be directed by Cécile McLorin Salvant.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
With this musical fable Ogresse, Cécile McLorin Salvant (music and story writer) is taking us into a story that never seems to go away in old European and Russian folk-lore (and other cultures too), that of the dreaded terror of the creature that lives in the woods, and this creature is so often female, often a witch or some other ogresse. All the elements, all of the darkness of those stories, are here, but this story is also told with humour and at times a smile and there is that sense of, The Brothers Grimm meeting Roald Dahl throughout many moments of this narrative.
As Cécile McLorin Salvant draws you into her narrative, projected art on a large screen at the back of the stage also sets a very visual tone to this story whilst the music itself is in the form of a cantata and it is here that the magic really starts to happen.
The music was arranged and conducted on-stage by Darcy James Argue, and the 13 piece orchestra of multi instrumentalists created a very unique soundscape to the world of Ogresse as, here, Cécile McLorin Salvant’s musical score takes us on a magical journey through seventeen songs that see her effortlessly blend folk, baroque, jazz and country together. Here, dark stories also meet “The Great American Songbook” at times whilst Cécile slips in and out of different characters as her story unfolds.
Wisely, this story is not what it seems on the surface and Ogresse is not only given a reason for being in the woods, but also given humanity. This Ogresse is lonely, and desperate to have someone to love her for who she is. For a short time it looks like her dream will come true, but of course this is folk-lore and there is a bitter twist in this fable too.
There are, of course, many other layers to this work and starting to examine these in detail would take up much more space than this review has but at its simplest form, this story is several things underneath its musical fable cloak. Ogresse is a homage to the Erzulie, the Haitian Goddess of love as painted by Gerard Fortune, and to Sara Baartman, a South African woman who was exhibited as a so-called “freak show” attraction in 19th century Europe.
Underneath the layers of music and folk-lore the ugly face of European exploitation of many cultures across the world tells a story far uglier than anything that the people in the village at the edge of the woods where Ogresse fled to wanted to attribute to her.
To pick out any one of the exceptional thirteen musicians on stage this evening might be a bit unfair, but so often in this story the beating heart of Ogresse is the sound of a double bass, and Yasushi Nakamura is an exceptional player. Throughout this story unfolding he was pretty much always there while other members of this orchestra gave the story of Ogresse specific dynamics whenever the story required it.
Ogresse is currently in development to become an animated feature-length film, which will be directed by Cécile McLorin Salvant.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com