Nir Paldi on Lecoq (The Ballad of the Burning Star)

It was the Fringe 2013. Theatre Ad Infinitum, who were probably one of the first companies to wear Lecoq on their sleeve, were presenting a new work: The Ballad of The Burning Star. Having become veteran successes through Translunar Paradise, artistic director Nir Paldi was going for his first explicitly political work.I got an interview with him, and inevitably ignored that obvious point, and asked him about things that only start to make sense now, as I seek out an instrument to critique devised and physical theatre that is not the same tool I use on scripted performance. 

GKV: What does Lecoq mean to you?
Nir Paldi: I think Lecoq means a lot to all who have studied his pedagogy. I'm sure it's different for everyone. For me I can say it gives you all the tools a theatre maker needs to make theatre. It challenges you to be an artist and to understand what that means. It gives you discipline, brings out creativity within you, and asks you to master what you practice while embracing chaos, and being lost in the unknown.

photo credit: Alex Bremner

It makes you understand the importance of doing. It gives you an appreciation of the world around you and teaches you to focus always on the theatre you're making - not on yourself, on what it is you want to make, say, and create.

GKV: Cabaret and drag - a new style for you, but do they link to the physical theatre styles you have used in the past?
As a company using cabaret and drag in an ensemble format is a new venture for us. But it's not the first time cabaret has come out of the work. In The Big Smoke, a one woman confession of suicide from the grave, sung A Capella by Amy Nostbakken and directed by Nir Paldi in 2010, cabaret played a significant role. Minimally staged, Nostbakken was dressed in a stunning pink dress and had only a classic fifties style standing mike with which to tell her tragic story. 

In Ballad, cabaret has combined with drag, clown and tragedy. One of the most interesting elements to Ballad's creative process has been discovering how clown and tragedy are connected - in this case through cabaret and drag. 

What's fascinating is pushing something comic so far that it becomes tragic - but also undercutting tragedy to uncover the unexpectedly comic: sometimes the two co-exist in a strange theatrical paradox as unlikely partners.

The result is a rather unpredictable an unexpected beast of a piece and were really excited about presenting it.

GKV: With this being a personal piece, does using a more visual theatrical style help you in making the work, and engaging with the audience?
We must just state that although the motivation for the piece is personal on the writer/directors part, the story is not Nir Paldi's autobiography. This piece uses text, as well as physical styles like gesture, dance, movement and the storytelling body, and song and music to tell its story - the visual mediums are crucial and certainly helpful. 
We always begin with the body in the space and build from that. 

Our company gives a lot of importance to the body because its the body, ultimately, that will engage, speak, visualise, and create theatre in the space and connect to the audience. Whether that is through text, image, movement, sound, etc...