SOLL Event: The French Studies Theatre Troupe Presents Le Prénom (What’s in a name?)

Felicia Lee

The French Studies Theatre Troupe, consisting of Dr Nicholas Strole from the French Department at SOLL and 30 student volunteers, proudly presents Le Prénom, a French comedy written by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte.

Felicia sits down with Stage Director, Dr Nicholas Strole, actors Dan Castle and Nick Madden, and backstage crew member, Robert Garner, for a chat about the upcoming play.

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Hello everyone! Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Well to start us off, perhaps you could do a brief introduction of yourself and your role in the production?

Nick (S): I’m Nick Strole. I’m the director of the play, but I also work with the actors and backstage. I’m also the stage and props manager so actually I’m doing a bit of everything.

Dan: My name is Dan Castle and I’m an actor. I’m performing as Vincent in the play.

Nick (M): My name’s Nick Madden and I’m an actor playing Claude in the play.

Robert: My name’s Robert Garner, and I am a member of the backstage crew. I’ve been mostly working on refining the translation of the play for the English surtitles, which will be projected for the audience. I’ve been creating translations and also putting them into the surtitle format. I’ve been working with the publicity for the piece as well.

Could tell us more about how the entire production was first conceptualized?

Nick (S): There were a few reasons for choosing the play this year. Last semester, we did a multilingual theatre showcase, which consisted of several scenes in French, Italian, German and Russian. But when I was working with the French actors, they all said, ‘Oh, we really would like to do a full play instead of just a short scene!’ So I decided that we would do that this year.

I chose the play because it’s actually a very well-known play in France, but not as well known in English-speaking countries. I thought that it would be a good opportunity to perform at the University of Melbourne. It’s a very, very funny play. There’s not a scene where the audience won’t be laughing; it’s about an hour and a half with no intermission. Once it starts, it’s high energy and it gets people excited from the very beginning and doesn’t let up until the very end.

We really wanted to present something that would get people energized and excited about French language, culture, and theatre. Also, I wanted to choose a comedy because I feel like after years of being in lockdown, we deserve to celebrate, come together, and laugh.

And what motivated the rest of the team to be part of the production?

Robert: I guess my motivation for joining the play was that I have always wanted to do something with translation and with assisting in multilingual productions. That’s always been something that’s interested me and something that I would like to study as well going forward. I thought that taking on this role in the play would be a really nice way to start getting that experience.

Dan: This is my first year at the University of Melbourne. I was a student in the French cohort and one of the first emails that I received was an expression of interest regarding a possible French production. I saw it and I thought it looked pretty interesting. You know, I enjoy theatre and drama, and French as well. Being able to combine both interests was ideal, really.

Nick (M): I think Dan summed it up pretty much. It was the same for me as well.

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It seems that you’ve started working on it since Week 1 and now the production is coming to fruition in Week 10. What were some challenges that you’ve faced thus far?

Dan: If I tell anybody about this play, the first question they ask is, ‘Is it hard to learn lines in French?’ Learning lines for this play hasn’t been too bad, but it’s more because it’s not your first language. And if you don’t speak the language natively, there are many nuances that you need to try and adapt to, whether in terms of pronunciation, rhythm or intonation.

But I guess to overcome this, the best way is to immerse yourself in the language. In rehearsals, we’re constantly surrounded by the language, whether it’s Nick’s direction or whether it’s us talking between scenes; we gain exposure and practise the language that way. We’re not playing English speakers who are speaking French, but acting as French speakers, speaking in the native language, so we need to practise as much as we can.

Nick (M): I agree with Dan about putting aside the language barrier, which is an obstacle that is ongoing since we think in English all the time. Switching to French in rehearsals can present challenges.

But I think the main challenge for me is the logistics. Putting the play together was really challenging because we all have classes, our timetables clash, and we have to organise all the props. It’s just been a real feat that we’ve been able to pull this off.

Robert: With translation, the main issue is that with the surtitles in English, we need to make sure that they are understandable by an English-speaking audience or specifically an Australian audience yet remain faithful to the original lines in the play. That can sometimes be difficult because there are quite a few French cultural references in the script which would obviously not be understood by most Australians unless they are well-versed in French culture.

Therefore, we had to replace those cultural references with Anglophone cultural references that are equivalent to ensure that the meaning of the play was understood. For example, we had to replace Bobby Lapointe, who’s a French singer and comedian, with Monty Python for that reason.

The other thing that can be challenging with translation is proofreading and editing the surtitles. We have to read quite carefully what we’ve translated and review the decisions we’ve made because they could impact how well the audience understands the play and what’s being said. We need to decide how much text we put in each slide because if we put too much on there, it could give away important details too early.

Nick (S): I made sure that translators and surtitlers had time to work with the actors to figure out the rhythm of the lines and to not give away the punch line of the jokes too quickly. Otherwise, the audience would start laughing before the actors have time to say the joke.

But one challenge for me was that I’ve been holding separate backstage rehearsal meetings every couple of weeks on top of the rehearsals with the actors. I think the one thing that’s really helped is that students like Robert as well as Nikita Mathew and Charlotte Pasqua have really stepped up and volunteered to do extra tasks to help me when I’m working with the actors, backstage crew, or translators. A lot of staff members from the school have also helped as well, particularly Sabine Batko, Marie Robert, and Claire Dumans. It’s been wonderful having so much support from my students and colleagues!

That’s really a lot of hard work for the past 10 weeks! How did you juggle so many things on your plate?

Nick (M): I’m doing French this semester as well, so my participation in the play does help me get into the rhythm of just hearing French consistently. I don’t just get to rehearse my lines with the cast but also practise French with people outside of the play.

Also, since the cast and all the members of the production team got along well right from the start, the whole process ran smoothly. I have to say that we received a lot of help from many people, which has made everything less tedious.

Dan: For me, I had to try and balance the workload, but I think this play also allowed me to focus on what I actually needed to do rather than wasting my time. Also, I think Nick (M) put it very well with respect to the connection that we develop with everyone in the team. If we’re able to develop real relationships with one another, it makes everything much simpler and authentic for the audience.

Nick (S): I remember there was a point in the rehearsal process when we came to one of the funny bits of the play, and all of the characters broke character and just started bursting out laughing. Normally I’d say, ‘Come on guys, let’s keep going’ but at that moment when I saw that they were finally bonding as a cast, I ended up letting them have fun, laugh, and be distracted. Overall, I think the play has really been a break from schoolwork for the cast and crew. Even though it is still in French and still academic to a certain extent, it’s clear that they’re having a lot of fun with the whole process. It’s sort of an escape from the stresses of classes and homework.

Robert: I would agree that it is an escape because I think that I have really enjoyed being able to do something at university that is not just classes. I think that having that extra activity that I’m doing and that I’m passionate about has made a lot of difference in terms of my experience here at the university this semester.

Because I enjoy it so much, juggling my work and my commitment working with the play has been relatively easy because I’ve been able to be more organized. It has also boosted my confidence knowing that I can work on many different things at a time. Because I also study French here, I feel like being part of the play has actually helped me become more connected to my other French modules, and that’s made a huge impact on me.

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Advertisement time! What can the audience look forward to in the play?

Dan: Just a snippet of what the show is about – the premise of the play revolves around five friends who meet for dinner at one of the friends’ apartment. There are two couples within the friendship and one single character. One of them is having a child, but they haven’t decided on the name. When the name of the child is revealed, it’s not exactly one that everyone can agree upon. The energy just builds and builds and builds and builds until it comes to a point of climax. Emotions get high, secrets are revealed.

Nick (M): There’s also a strong example of women leading in the play, and I think that’s important. This makes it different from many other productions because the male characters aren’t particularly likeable. It’s a very realistic play and it’s designed to represent individual personalities. The performance touches on that really well. We’ve all got secrets and we all can become really emotional with our individual prejudices. And I think the performance does sort of expose the human condition.

Nick (S): I think the audience can expect to have a good time. From the very first moment audience members enter the theatre, they are going to hear French music playing and really feel immersed in a dinner party atmosphere in a bourgeois Parisian apartment.

I think anybody can identify with at least one of the characters or say, ‘Ah, I know someone who is like him or her.’ It also shows how divisive the state of the world is today and how people hold on so tightly to their own viewpoints and don’t actually communicate with one another. Instead, people often just want to voice their own opinions and end up screaming at each other. But towards the end of the play, there’s this beautiful monologue that encourages people to step back and start to really listen to each other rather than pushing each other apart.

Robert: I think it’s a light-hearted play but with deep meanings. It presents a chance for the audience to laugh and have fun, but it does give the audience some things to think about on a deeper level.

It sounds really exciting and I’m sure the audience can’t wait to watch the play this weekend! Thank you for taking time off to speak with me.

Thank you, Felicia.

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The production team would like to thank Steph Kehoe and Colin Sneesby from the Victoria College of Arts at the University of Melbourne for taking the actors under their wings in their workshops. Steph organised a workshop inspired by Jacques Lecoq’s movement training to get actors to focus on embodied expressions in their depiction of their characters, while Colin helped the actors enact a fight scene safely yet realistically with his experience as a specialist in movement on stage.

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Date and Time: Saturday 13 May, 7pm and Sunday 14 May, 3pm
Venue: Forum Theatre (room 153), Arts West, University of Melbourne

Social Media: Follow the French Studies Theatre Troupe on Instagram!

Grab your tickets here.