LANDSCAPE ORCHESTRA
DOCUMENTARY THEATRE, 2019
concept Pablo Castilla, Hedvig Biong, Niko Hafkenscheid | by and with Barry, Mohammed Ndoye, Diamond, Mamadou, Hanane, Lydia, Darwish, Abdou, Sergio, Jonathan, Ahmed | image Ahmu | production Kevin or Harry, Globe Aroma | co-production Kaaitheater, Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil | support the Flemish Community Vlaamse Gemeenschap
Shows:
Kaaitheater, Brussels (October 2019) Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil (November 2019)
Landscape Orchestra seeks a musical answer to the question of how we can depict departure, travel, and arrival. The production visits the landscapes that we traverse on our way to different and better places. A series of portraits shows people for whom the world is difficult but not necessarily less poetic. In an increasingly mobile and more technological world, bringing people closer together can be a challenge, and solace a luxury. Landscape Orchestra asks us to reflect on the perspectives from which we look at each other and the expectations we have of each other.
…
The arts centre Globe Aroma works with newcomers and refugees in the heart of Brussels. Kaaitheater is a structural partner for their theatre productions and has previously presented Underneath Which Rivers Flow by Jozef Wouters, Capsaicin by Michiel Soete, and De Brievenschrijver by Simon Allemeersch. In 2016, Niko Hafkenscheid, Hedvig Biong and Pablo Castilla presented Syden at the Kaaistudios, a production about travelling to and staying in Southern Europe.
A DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN ON AND OFF
an interview with Niko Hafkenscheid, Hedvig Biong and Pablo Castilla by Eva Decaesstecker (Kaaitheater)
One week before the première, in a conversation on this programme booklet, I asked Hedvig, Niko and Pablo what Landscape Orchestra was about. Afterwards we decided to turn our brief conversation into a written one. I sent them more or less the same question I asked them before. They sent back a wide range of thoughts and reflections, which we let come together in the following interview.
Landscape Orchestra departed from the landscapes you go through when traveling. Why did you choose to start from the idea of landscapes?
When working with topics that are constantly fed through the media such as migration, we are somehow stuck with one way of viewing or relating to this issue. We think of migrants as a collective, and we attach certain ideas and images to them. There is a certain narrative that is already strongly embedded in the viewer’s mind. Therefore we were looking for a new entrance into this theme, and the idea of landscape came up. We started with a lot of questions: is it possible to tell this story, again, differently? Is there any space left for poetry? What ethics need to be operating within us to speak about something we have no clue about? We were interested in the crossing of gazes, approaches, interpretations.
We literally tried to find common ground between us and them, with the notion of the landscape. One definition of a landscape is a romantic idealization of reality. Symbols or iconic images such as the desert, the mountain peaks, or the ocean, are part of our European cultural traditions. But do these landscapes really exist in the eyes of the people that cross it today? How can we find common ground in what we think is a universal thing but obviously isn’t. It became very clear when recording the interviews, that we relate very differently to this “idea of landscape”
One idea would be to reconstruct this romantic archetype through the words of migrants. To tell a tale that can include the epic as well as the beautiful, and the absurd. At the same time, the landscape can be regarded as a symbol for traveling.
In the end Landscape Orchestra turned out to be an attempt to reconstruct the experience of crossing territory, large extensions of land. And to measure what meaning is or isn’t attached to it. Their relation to landscape is more about logistics and making it through. Combined with our own vision on crossing territories, Landscape Orchestra has become an imaginary landscape based on fragmented memories of their journey, and the possible sublimation of it through music.
The performance is based on interviews with the artists/participants from Globe Aroma. What were these interviews about? And how do they come back in the performance?
Interviewing the participants is a great way to get to know them, to spend time together as well as to collect information and explore.
We didn’t prepare the questions in advance, we rather thought of a strategy or a general intention before each interview session. As we mentioned before, the main topic of the conversation was landscape, but we preferred to keep it open. In many occasions the focus started drifting, so we would end up talking about something completely different. And it is precisely there, in the “peripheral”, that resides the irrelevant, which is unexpected, and therefore interesting, with poetic potential.
All the texts shown in the piece are fragments of interviews with various migrants. They belong to no one in particular and are made up of fragments of everyone’s testimonies. It always feels like a privilege to be able to ask questions, especially about situations on which the media have built a dominant narrative. The interviews lead us to break this dominance, and reveal a multifaceted complexity, where every individuals’ unique position stands against a generally accepted perspective.
A landscape can have many forms, from a natural to an industrial or urban one, but it can also be seen with a more conceptual approach. Which landscapes will we be traveling through during the performance?
There is a concrete physical landscape is presented on stage : the scenography itself.
The presence of the participants and the instruments, but also the theater lighting depict different situations that can be linked to the journey.
There is an imaginary, or mental landscape as the texts deliver information and the music affects the meaning of these texts. But the landscape remains open, as an ongoing construction, and can transform in the imagination of the spectator. This process of transformation demands alertness from the spectator, regarding the parameters presented on stage: text, music, actions.
The balance between the parameters invites for a game of completing unfulfilled situations and meaning.
It’s for the audience to engage in making sense between the meaningful and the meaningless, what is presence or absence.
The title of the piece also mentions an orchestra. An orchestra refers to a multitude of instruments playing a piece of music together, most of the time ‘in harmony’. How do you relate the concept of the orchestra to the piece?
The participants are not professional musicians, and though we have instructed them musically, we haven’t aimed for perfection as a way of questioning the “rules” of academic music. Playing music was something quite new for the group: most of them started playing only in the last months and one of the participants even told us that music was forbidden in his village.
On stage there are a number of music instruments. The instruments refer to European musical tradition: tuba, piano, trumpet, violoncello… as a metaphor for a new world in which they arrive, and perhaps the necessity to adapt and relate to new rules.
Also, the instruments become a way to access each performer’s personality.
In the piece, we speak about the possibility of harmony and also about what happens when it’s lacking. When things are off tune, we attempt to vibrate together and propose a delicate balance between ON and OFF, between harmony and disharmony.
A DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN ON AND OFF (II)
One week before the prémiere of “Landscape Orchestra”, the artistic directors of the piece, Niko Hafkenscheid, Pablo Castilla and Hedvig Biong were interviewed by Eva Decaesstecker (Kaaitheater). She asked four interesting questions:
Landscape Orchestra departed from the landscapes you go through when traveling. Why did you choose to start from the idea of landscapes?
The performance is based on interviews with the artists/participants from Globe Aroma. What were these interviews about? And how do they come back in the performance?
A landscape can have many forms, from a natural to an industrial or urban one, but it can also be seen with a more conceptual approach. Which landscapes will we be traveling through during the performance?
The title of the piece also mentions orchestra. An orchestra refers to a multitude of instruments playing a piece of music together ‘in harmony’. How do you relate the concept of the orchestra to the piece?
Those same questions have been now addressed to the participants themselves. The following is a transcription of a dialogue held with the cast in order to find some answers.(questions not adressed in the same order)
Niko Hafkenscheid, Pablo Castilla, Hedvig Biong: Alors, la premiere question. Le titre de la pièce mentionne le mot “Orchestre”. Un orchestre fait la référence à un multitude d'instruments, qui jouent un pièce de music ensemble. Normalmente en harmonie. Qu'est-ce que signifi le concept d’orchestre dans la pièce pour vous?
JONATHAN: Je n'ai pas compris.
NHPCHB: Qu'est-ce que pour vous cette idée d’orchestre ? Qu'est-ce que c'est un orchestre?
MOHAMMED: Pour moi, “Landscape Orchestra”, c’est comme tu dis, c'est une multitude d’instruments différents, mais aussi de personnes différentes, des nationalités, des cultures. C’est le mélange, pour moi, qu’on appelle un orchestre. Des trucs différents. C’est plusieurs personnes qui jouent ensemble. Pour moi c'est ça orchestre. Des gens qui se ressemble. Un mélange de trucs différents qui font un seule truc.
NHPCHB: Est ce que c’est harmonique dans l’espectacle?
JONATHAN: C’est harmonique et aussi mélancolique. C'est un concert vraiment harmonique.
MOHAMMED: Excuse-moi, et aussi Philarmonique. Parce que quand on dit souvent orchestre on entend philarmonic. Avec de piano, des acordemente, des... Orchestre c’est un group. Orchestre c’est grand quoi. Quand on dit orchestre c’est du “High Level”
NHPCHB: Et chez nous c’est comment?
MOHAMMED: quand on joue ensemble, parfois on dit “band”, parfois on dit “group”, mais quand on dit “orchestre” pour moi ça veut dire quelque chose de philarmonique, avec un cour qui chante derrière et tout. Même si c’est petit ce qu’on a fait avec le piano, le tuba, trumpet, le violoncelle… c’est quand même une orchestre.
JONATHAN: Pour moi c’est pas petit
NHPCHB: Tu parlait de ambiance ?
JONATHAN: Un ambiance vraiment intéressant. Il y a beaucoup d’harmonie qui fait aux gens pleurer. Parce que nous parlons aussi de beaucoup d’histoires, intéressantes, tristes, bizarres…
NHPCHB: Let’s translate for Diamond so he can participate. The task for today is very simple: we have to prepare the show for Mechelen which is in November, end of November, And we are preparing the booklet, so we have four questions, that were asked to us (by the KaaiTheater in Brussels) and we would like to ask those same questions to you. There are only four questions. In the title of the piece there is the word Orchestra. If we think of an orchestra we think of a multitude of instruments playing in harmony and the question is for you, what does the word Orchestra mean for you, in the context of this performance?
DIAMOND: Yes, actually the first day I heard about the word Orchestra, it was from An (director of Globe Aroma), and I don't really know what the word meant. I was curious to know what it meant, and I asked An, is it a word in French? Or is it an English word? She said it’s an English word, and she wasn’t really sure what it meant. I think she said it's all about music, combination of music… I can’t remember all she said, I’m not really sure actually what she said. So for me now, I think my main aim is to know really what the word Orchestra means first, before going any further.
NHPCHB: Quoting the question from the lady from the Kaai: “an orchestra is a multitude of instruments playing together in harmony”. So with this information, if you look back at the piece, what would you say? Is it an orchestra? Did we make an orchestra? What kind of orchestra?
DIAMOND: So following that definition, I would like to say that an orchestra is a multitude of instruments. It's a combination of different types of instruments to put this music in harmony. And if I should go back to what we did at the time, I would say that what we did at the time and what we are trying to express, it's all about migration. It's all about migration, about people who are traveling, about people who are moving from various countries and various cities trying to migrate to another place. It's all about the feeling they are suffering they are encountering on their way through the migration from a different place, that was all that we tried to express to people. And if the audience pays attention they can really see, clearly, and read the text and listen to the information that is coming out, and I think really that everybody will understand that what we all did it's all about migration, it's all about people.
NHPCHB: How does the music add to this, how does the music help to convey the idea of migration? Why do we use Music? why do we use an Orchestra? Are we an orchestra? what kind of Orchestra?
DIAMOND: What we are trying to do, or what we tried to do, or what we did, is the music. It’s to try to express these feelings through music in an emotional way so you can feel and understand the message we are trying to express to other people.
NHPCHB: and is that different to express it with music? You could just read a book.
DIAMOND: Actually you can do it just with the book, but it's also good to combine it in different aspects, through the music, through a book, … there are people who can't read, who doesn't listen to what you say, or understand what you're saying, maybe they can’t read and then they will understand what you're saying. There are some people that doesn't see, but when you sing, they understand what you're saying. So I think it is okay, I think it's good when we use both the combination from the reading but also from the sounds.
NHPCHB: Is it harmonic, what we play?
DIAMOND: It was really harmonic. It was so harmonic.
MOHAMMED: We got this thing man, goose bumps. Since then now I have this thing in my mind (humming a melody).
DIAMOND: It was really emotional
MOHAMMED: It was like a heart beating.
JONATHAN: Of course. Because also these rhythms, so many people kept them in their hearts. Like me, when they see me singing (making a melody) and it's like impossible to forget it.
MOHAMMED: Very difficult. I think the same. I still have that tune in my mind.
SERGIO: Dans un concert, d’abord pour notre idee ça montre que c'est une orchestre. Dans la façon de transmettre le message, dans la façon de jouer… l’union qui il y a d’instruments. La façon de transmettre la musique, c’est deja une orchestre… Pour moi c’est claire.
NHPCHB: A landscape can have many forms from a natural to an industrial, to an urban one, but it can also be seen with a more conceptual approach. Which Landscapes will we be traveling through during the performance?
Je vais traduire aussi en français.
Un paysage peut avoir des multiples formes: un paysage naturel, un paysage industriel ou urban, mais on peut aussi approcher l’idee de paysage d’une façon plus conceptuel. Alors, quel type paysage on traverse pendant la performance?
DIAMOND: To me, I will say the landscape we travel through in this performance is really the sound. Yes, the sound. Because actually the sound was so sensational, it was so emotional, and with this sound (humming melody) and everything you're hearing you like to know more. You want to know more about this project. Anything you see that is going on, it makes you more interested. You would like to know what is going on, because this sound you're hearing it has a vibrant spirit that moves your body and when you hear all this sound you get more interested. More interested to know what is going on, what are these people trying to say, what are they trying to explain… I think the sound is very encouraging. I think the sound makes you traveling
NHPCHB: Do you mean sound or music?
DIAMOND: The music is the sound. When we are playing the music the sounds come from the music.
NHPCHB: What Landscapes do you imagine when you hear the sounds or this music?
DIAMOND: Should I say sad? I don't want to use the word sad but… I’m sorry I’m going to use the word sad, like you're sad, like what’s going on, because you’re hearing these sounds. I’m just saying without the speech, without the voice now, you’re hearing the sounds and you wonder what’s going on. you pay more attention, you’ll be more balanced, you’ll be more focused, just be calm.
But when you are hearing those like the speech, the music coming out, the voice coming out, and you are seeing some other texts, you like to be more balanced and more comfortable again. It's makes you want to pay more attention to know what is going on. The sounds you are hearing is giving you that focus to be more attentive to know what’s going to come out, what you can understand, what you will know, so you try to pay more attention to what is going on.
NHPCHB: Et pour vous, est-ce qu’il y a des paysages qui emmergent?
JONATHAN: Pour moi, quand nous jouons, on sent qu’on traverse un paysage, comme le désert. On sent qu’on est sur un endroit, ou on marche, et on appelle l’esprit du spectateur pour venir voir le paysage la ou nous sommes passé. Même les personnes qui écoutent le message, je pense que, -je sais pas- mais il y a beaucoup du monde qui m’ont dit que… (...) c’est comme un paysage qui n’existe pas mais ça existe donc. Tout le monde gaigne l'intérêt d'aller la-bas et voir que’est ce qu’il y a dans ce paysage-là bas. Ça fait que les gens (spectateurs) veulent s'intéresser de ces paysages la.
MOHAMMED: Moi je pense la même chose que eux deux, mais je prends ça d'une façon beaucoup plus grave. Parce que j'ai des amis qui ont fait le bateau, Avec 15 ou 16 jours de voyage. Avec ce que mon cousin m’expliquait, avec tard le soir, il parlait de la mer tard le soir, quand la mer est calme, mais il a la brume, ils ont froid, ils sont dans le truc, il sont occupé, ils doivent faire le thé… Moi c’est un truc que m’a beaucoup touché quoi, c’est un truc très macabre. Mois je trouve que c’est très triste comme truc. Et déjà même comme on le joue, je pense que le gens qui regardent, ils peuvent comprendre que c’est comme ça, en tout cas il comprends que c’est pas la fete la bas sur le bateau.
NHPCHB: Est-ce que l’espectacle reflets ça?
MOHAMMED: Pour moi la performance ça reflets tout ça, c’est un voyage un peu macabre. Il y a des moments de quieté mais il a beaucoup plus des moments de “sadness” que de joie, quoi.
SERGIO: Ce paysage, moi je n’ai pas vécu ça, mais je joue par rapport aux histoires des gens qu’ont vécu ça. Il y a de la souffrance mais il y a aussi l’attitude des gens qui ont traversé, qu’ont pas reculé, la persistance.
NHPCHB: Is there a landscape in this show that you recall?
MOHAMMED: The cold, and la solitude.
NHPCHB: La performance est basée sur des entretiens avec des artistes participants de Globe Aroma, alors, de quoi il s'agissait ces entretiens? Et comment ces entretiens revient dans la performance?
JONATHAN: I don't understand.
NHPCHB: The performance is based on interviews with the artists in Globe Aroma …. Actually we did not do interviews with you, we did with Diamond, with Barry, with many other people… we couldn't do it with everybody, we had so much text (by the time the final group was formed) but it’s clear that the idea was to make these interviews with everybody…. So, what were these interviews about, and how do they come back in the performance?
DIAMOND: Ok, actually the interviews were about a little bit about our experience, on how we all travelled from our country down here to Europe. And also, during this performance and after this performance, you, Mr. Niko, Pablo and Hedvig, and more people, they told us that in a few months from now there's gonna be a show, which most guys here in Globe Arome will part of. And they also told me, that all these things that we said, all the things we would speak about, all these things would be arranged specifically, in some texts, in some kind of music, and all that, and it’s going to be performed in a show. And I didn’t take it serious at all. I didn't take it serious at all, I thought it was just a joke, until afterwards, I had to be in the Kaaistudio (for rehearsals) and I was so puzzled, I was so surprised! And I also heard the music from Mr Jonathan and I also … saw the combination and the arrangement of the interview and I was like WOW, this is really great and I saw everything fitting in. I was really surprised.
NHPCHB: Alors, la question c’est que, la performance part d'entretiens avec de refuges, en fait, qui viennent a Globe Aroma. Alors, de quoi est-ce que ces entretiens parlaient, quel est le sujet de ces entretiens, et comment on voit ça dans la performance?
JONATHAN: Mois je veux remercier a Globe Aroma de cette initiative. Des different personnes, qui viennent de different pays. Pour savoir un peu, quel type d’histoire que se passe pour sortir de votre pays et arriver ici. Parce que je pense que c’est vraiment important. Beaucoup du monde ils connaissent pas les risques, comment les personnes sont marches pour arriver á ce pays, pour recommencer une nouvelle vie.
NHPCHB: D’accord, on va une fois reposer la question: de quoi s’agissent les interviews, et comment ils font partie dans le show?
JONATHAN: C’est de savoir les histories de tout le monde que viennent de différent pays et comment il sons passée.
NHPCHB: Et pourquoi le titre est Landscape Orchestra?
JONATHAN: Moi aussi je veut savoir ça.
DIAMOND: What is the question?
NHPCHB: The question is why is the piece called Landscape Orchestra?
DIAMOND: Yes, why is this piece called Landscape Orchestra?
MOHAMMED: because it narrates a travel from their country?
DIAMOND: No...
JONATHAN: No?
DIAMOND: … No... this question is not meant for us. You understand?
MOHAMMED: Yes, actually because...
DIAMOND: Wait, let me talk! Yes this question is not meant for us. Why do I say this? You know, before a name should be chosen in an organization, I believe that some delegates, some people that are more capable to make decisions, I mean, there are some people that make deliberation, maybe have some arguments, they also have some talks until they say OK NOW! I believe before they chose the name “Orchestra”, there were other names that came up first.
NHPCHB: Yes, but the name is not Orchestra. It’s “Landscape Orchestra”.
DIAMOND: Yes, OK, before they choose the name “Landscape Orchestra”, I believe those delegates had a talk and came to an agreement and they said: OK, let’s take this name and use this name for this performance.
NHPCHB: But why do you think this name came out?
DIAMOND: We are not in a position to answer such a question.
NHPCHB: But I'm asking you this question
DIAMOND: Yes, and I’ll give you the answer. So the people that chose this name, they had the inspiration for that, and we didn't.
JONATHAN: Yes, why is that?
(everybody talking loud, indistinctly)
NHPCHB: What is the reason for that?
DIAMOND (loud): Yes, I will say it. Because in this show, we are just the participants. You understand?
NHPCHB: Is there no link between the performance and the title?
MOHAMMED: Yes! Yes!
DIAMOND: Yes, there is a link
NHPCHB: What link?
DIAMOND: Like I said, you know the first time, when you said, what is the meaning of “orchestra”, I said, actually I don’t know. And you explained to me that is the combination of a music and to bring harmony, or something like that, you said… So, if you ask me what is Orchestra now, I can define what it is, but if you say why or how did they choose that name, then I can’t explain why!
(Everybody laughing)
MOHAMMED: Okay, maybe the first question answers the second.
NHPCHB: Ok, there is one more question left. We are going to dig deeper now.
MOHAMMED: OK.
DIAMOND: yeah.
NHPCHB: The last question is…
DIAMOND: yeah
NHPCHB: Landscape Orchestra, departed from the landscapes you go through when travelling. Why did you choose to work with the idea of landscapes?
DIAMOND: OK, why did you choose to work with the idea of landscapes… OK, before I go into that explanation, I‘d say I don't really know why they decided to choose the name “Landscape Orchestra”, but I’d say, from what I’m observing, from what I understand, like Mr. Niko told me, like that a “landscape” is a music, is a combination of different instruments to bring harmony. So, like what he said, I’d say yes, we decided to use the name “Landscape Orchestra” because the words mean a combination of different instruments to bring...
JONATHAN… to bring harmony, yes
DIAMOND: … yes, and that was what we did, actually. In the show, as you all can see, we use tuba, piano, guitar, and we use… what is that instrument called? Violoncello, yes, cello, … and why do we contain all these instruments? It’s because we want to bring good harmony to the audience which is exactly what we did. We did combination of the sound, we did combination of the music, we did combination of the speech, and we did combination of the texts also, everything really went perfectly, I suppose. It was really nice. So I’d say, that’s why we used all these instruments, so we can get good feelings , send a good message, good thoughts to the people.
MOHAMMED: yeah.
JONATHAN: yes.
MOHAMMED: For me Landscape is very easy for people to understand because with the “mise-en-scene” , how we enter, how we were, how sometimes our face was, how light was, is a real landscape. Everything we have to make this performance is a landscape.
DIAMOND: Yes, that’s a good explanation.
MOHAMMED: I think even me and all our brothers, when we entered inside…. With some kind of a… you know why I say this? because after two days I was so tired. It was like as if I did body-building but we didn't do nothing. On avait juste interprété le truc “Landscape” on était vraiment, pour moi nous on était vraiment le “landscape”, notre comportement, comment on était habillés et tout...
NHPCHB: So if understand, he says that “you” are the landscape.
JONATHAN: oui, c’est ça. C'est nous. Nous sommes le paysages
DIAMOND: In combination with the instruments
NHPCHB: Anyone wants to add a last line? Derniere commentaire?
JONATHAN: pour moi, pour terminer, je veux justement remercier l'initiative de lLobe Aroma, et toutes les personnes, qui travaillent avec nous, tout le monde, je veux remercier, parce que nous on fait quelque chose de bizarre, mais vraiment , c’est très bien parce qu'après tout le monde est resté très content. Pour moi l’objectif d’un projet ou un concert, premier: c’est toi même comme artiste, se sentir bien. Apres, c’est le public.
APPENDIX:
Barry, another participant, showed up late. The questions were asked for him only:
NHPCHB: Ceux-ci sont les question qu’on nous a posé au KaaiTheatre lors de notre performance. On voudrait poser les mêmes questions a vous tous maintenant, pour que vous répondiez aussi. Landscape Orchestra partait des paysages qu’on traverse quand on voyage. Pourquoi ce sujet de paysage?
BARRY: Pourquoi? C'est parce que c'est des choses que on a vécu Et vous vous n'avez pas vu. Et vous avez besoin de le savoir, je crois. Et nous on l'a vécu et on y connaît. Et vous ne les connaissais pas. Je vais pas dire que vous ne connaissez pas d'autres choses, Mais tout ce que nous avons vu et vécu vous savez rien du tout.
NHPCHB: Et le titre “Paysage Orchestre” qu'est-ce que tu comprends par ça ?
BARRY: Pour moi le “Paysages Orchestre”, c'est par rapport aux paysages là ou on a passé. Alors on joue notre orchestre à cause de ça: les paysages passés. Tu vois? C'est pour cela qu'on a dit “Landscape Orchestra”.
NHPCHB: The performance is based on interviews with the artists/participants from Globe Aroma. What were these interviews about? And how do they come back in the performance?
BARRY: Il y a beaucoup de choses qu'on a dit, je retiens pas tout. On m'avait demandé si j'avais peur de publique, j'avais dit non j'ai pas peur.
NHPCHB: Mais de quoi est-ce qu’on parle dans ces entretiens?
BARRY: du paysage, de comment on a quitté chez nous, comment on est arrivées a Libye, comment on a quitte la Libye, Comment on est arrivé à l'Italie, comment on a quitté l'Italie, Pour arriver ici à Bruxelles. on a parlé de ça.
NHPCHB: Et comment est-ce qu'on voit ça dans le spectacle?
BARRY: Dans le spectacle quand je joue, ça me ramène vraiment hors de salle, Je pense beaucoup au passé, ça me fait réfléchir beaucoup, en jouant. Parce qu'en jouant, je sais, par exemple quand je joue le morceau “Zodiac” , tout mon esprit avec le violoncelle, c’est comme si je suis dans le bateau même aussi.
NHPCHB: A landscape can have many forms, from a natural to an industrial or urban one, but it can also be seen with a more conceptual approach. Which landscapes will we be traveling through during the performance?
BARRY: Pour moi j'ai traversé le désert, a partir de Agadez. C’est a partir de la-bas que j’ai commencé, jusqu'à Lybie, et Lybie, dans la mer , Italie… Je sais que le public ne va pas comprendre tout ça quand je joue, parce qu'il le voit pas. Mais le texte sur l'écran quand il le lisent, ils vont comprendre.
NHPCHB: The title of the piece also mentions orchestra. An orchestra refers to a multitude of instruments playing a piece of music together ‘in harmony’. How do you relate the concept of the orchestra to the piece?
BARRY: Orchestre ? je ne suis pas musicien, je ne peux pas définir ce mot-là. Je peux expliquer de ma façon , c'est un groupe que se comprend ensemble sur un matériel.
NHPCHB: Est-ce que c' est harmonique ?
BARRY: J'ai pas compris
NHPCHB: Est-ce que c' est harmonique ? est-ce que on joue bien ensemble ?
BARRY: Pour moi c'est ici que j'ai déboute, même si il y a des gens qui vont pas aimer, moi je suis content de ma manière de jouer .
DIAMOND: I just wanted to say, that we, on stage, we ourselves are the explanation of the landscape.