Rameau's Nephew

Adaptor/Director
Phoebe von Held

Based on
Denis Diderot's Rameau's Nephew

Translation
Nina Pearlman and Phoebe von Held

Set and Costumes
Phoebe von Held

Lighting
Zerlina Hughes

Cast
Alexandra Belcourt: The Philosopher, Candida Benson: Rameau's Nephew

Venue
The Citizens Theatre: Studio, Oct 1998

Set in a cafe in eighteenth-century Paris, Rameau's Nephew by Denis Diderot takes the shape of a fiery discussion between a philosopher representing the humanistic values of the enlightenment and François Rameau, the nephew of the famous composer, yet himself a failed musician and social parasite.

Driven by a spirit that could be described as that of a rebellious teenager provoking an authority figure, the Nephew undermines every single one of the Philosopher's positivistic moral claims. Committing to a harsh and cynical nihilism, he shocks with a worldview in which human interaction is devoid of any ethical responsibility, representing a theatre in which individuals engage in endless charades of performing for each other. In an array of stories, anecdotes and pantomimes, the Nephew conjures up a theatrical universe in which humans are nothing but actors, shameless liars, impostors and plagiarists, cultivating performance skills only to take advantage of each other.  

The adaptation and production unpack Diderot's idea of a social theatre, elaborating the multiple layers and moments of theatricality addressed in the dialogue . Through impersonation, gesture, pantomime and enactments the piece creates a performance that consciously resists becoming a play, but generates a firework of theatrical bravura moments that render Diderot's perplexing musings experiential in live performance. 

THE SCOTSMAN: The production has three terrific assets. First, its crazy style has real intellectual flair, capturing the end-of-civilisation decadence and flight to extremes that is at the heart of the work. Second, it's intriguing to recognise, 240 years on, the sheer familiarity of the nephew's harsh Eighties-style greed, in all its self-deception and insidious sadism. And third, Candida Benson's performance as the nephew is brilliant, star-is-born stuff, full of intelligent bravado and emotional complexity. I can't remember a gender-bending performance that transcended the issue of gender so completely; if only by reaching a level of humanity that runs deeper even than sex.