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Noda Manabu
Department Undergraduate School , School of Arts and Letters Position Professor |
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| Date | 2009/07/15 |
| Presentation Theme | Voice Made Visible: The Place for Voice on Stage in Robert Lepage's Lipsynch (2008) |
| Conference | IFTR (International Federation for Theatre Research) Congress, "Silent Voices, Forbidden Lives: Censorship and Performance" (University of Lisbon, July 12-18, 2009). |
| Promoters | IFTR (International Federation for Theatre Research) |
| Conference Type | International |
| Presentation Type | Speech (General) |
| Contribution Type | Individual |
| Details | World premiered in its entirety in London 2008, Robert Lepage's eight-hour, nine-act stage epic Lipsynch is arguably kabukiesque in its diffusive structure, with side characters in one act subsequently turning into main characters. It has one binding theme, though, which is voice, and in its execution, Lepage made the more elusive voices visible in a way comparable to noh.
As an extension of self, voice threatens the closure of subjectivity. The most disturbing, hallucinatory kind of voice rings as if coming from somewhere or nowhere. This uncanny voice is often featured in noh, especially in the pieces called two-act fantasy plays. Towards the end of the play the chorus takes over the voice of the protagonist, but as they do not sing 'in character,' the presence of the dancing protagonist is dissociated from his voice. Rather, the concluding dance visualizes the sheer physicality of the voice in desperate search for a home, a place it can belong to. Lepage's Lipsynch is also an attempt at reinstating the presence of elusive voices--voices of the dead, the distant, aphasiacs, and from within--visualizing them with its full uncanniness, or "unhomeliness" (das Unheimliche). "Lipsynch," explains the director, "is about the specific signification of all three [i.e. voice, speech, and language] and their interaction in modern human expression." This essay discusses the place of voice on stage in noh and Lipsynch, and how the audience is allowed to share in its unhomely physicality. |