Fabulous, Even in French

Parlez vous francais? No? A play in French can still be great even if you don’t understand all the words. This was the case Tuesday night for senior Coco Corbitt’s one-woman play performed in the Dungeon Theater. “Stabat Mater Furiosa,” written by Jean-Pierre Siméon is an aggressive and emotional monologue (or conversation) condemning war violence, translating to “Immovable Furious Mother.” Corbitt employed physical language varying vocal intonations to clearly deliver this woman’s message to her audience.

A large, antique rifle propped on two chairs was the only prop present throughout the play. It was also, save three estranged dorm room lamps, the entirety of the set decoration. This minimal approach to staging focused the attention on the dialogue between woman and object, as well as being cost-effective. Without a lot of visual elements to guide the viewing, how does an audience of mostly-non speakers understand and connect to a play solely in French?

Corbitt’s performance seduced and capsulated the audience by revealing the force found behind the words, not just in them. Moving from whispers to shouts to near tears the momentum of the lines propelled the play through it’s 45 minute duration. The varying pace also provided a rhythm and some natural pauses throughout the one-act. The delivery of the lines was reflective of a angered woman speaking her mind and addressing both her transgressions and fears. The moments where little flubs in the words could have been obvious equivocations, Corbitt made the stumble work, like a natural trip in an angry confession.

Confronting the weapon with words and gestures denoting the range of emotions war arouses in those that it affects, Corbitt showed how easy it can be to respond to violence with violence. The control the performer demonstrated with her gestures matched the vocal intonations that conveyed meaning as well or better than words. Moving her body around the stage and in thoughtful relation to the symbolic weapon, Corbitt found an interactive physical presence hard to imagine in a one-person play. Whether lying down and gazing up leisurely or thrashing the air in faux assault, the delivering of lines was married to a prominent physicality.

The play was evidence that passionate feeling can be transmitted without the translation of words. Evidence of a feminist critique, as well as a mother’s singular anger, emerged from the subplot of the play and were charged in Corbitt’s performance. On themes upon which all are familiar, the play and the individual interpretation and performance related the same power and emotion whether you understood the French or just the fierce energy.