Proust 3: De kant van Charlus – Charlus’ Way

The second episode is about the love between Marcel and Albertine, who he first sees as a young girl on the beach at Balbec. The young love between Marcel and Albertine is typified marked by Marcel´s enormous jealousy. Jealousy, lies and a deep distrust mark the love between Marcel and Albertine more and more. Like Swann, Marcel is hugely afraid that his love is a lesbian. When Albertine goes to live with him in Paris, their love deteriorates even more. Eventually, Albertine becomes Marcel’s ‘prisoner’, and he becomes hers in a certain way.

The four-part theatre cycle “In search of lost time”, based on Marcel Proust’s masterpiece is a grand and multifaceted project: the director Guy Cassiers has been working on this project for three seasons at the ro theatre.

“In search of lost time” is the story of the initiation of a young man, Marcel, into the world of love, aristocracy and the arts. It can be called a panoramic time document for the last decades of the nineteenth and the first decades of the twentieth century, a period in which more changes took place than had done since the beginning of Christian times.

For Guy Cassiers, the central theme is ‘the functioning of the imagination’, as defined by Proust in his novel in minute detail. In keeping with his previous stagings, Guy Cassiers works in a multimedial way here too: actors, storytelling, live music, video images and text projections represent the many layers in Proust’s rich novel. The inner world created on stage contains a continual blending of past and present, and imagination and memories.

“Proust 1: Swann’s Way”, “Proust 2: Albertine’s Way”, “Proust 3: Charlus’ Way” and “Proust 4: Marcel’s Way” have garnered both critical and public acclaim. All parts of the Proust-cycle are completed stories and can be seen separately.

Cast

Directed by Guy Cassiers
Dramaturgy Erwin Jans
Stage Design Marc Warning
Costume Design Valentine Kempynck (BELGAT)
Lighting Design Enrico Bagnoli
Video Concept Marc Warning, Kantoor voor Bewegend Beeld (Eelko Ferwerda, Jasper Wessels)
Video Kantoor voor Bewegend Beeld
Supervisor Music Wim Selles
Sound Design Diederik De Cock
Translations and Dubbing Michael Müller-Engelhardt

With Katelijne Damen, Marlies Heuer, Joop Keesmaat, Paul R. Kooij, Eelco Smits, Fania Sorel, Steven Van Watermeulen, Tom Van Bauwel
and the Rotterdams Jongenskoor
Conductor Geert van den Dungen