‘Lolita / Jeanne d’Arc’ is one of those performances that promise a lot but disappoint at delivery. The Gesher Theater offered the non-conventional space of its Hangar hall reserved for its more experimental productions to the actor, choreographer and stage director Yehezkiel Lazarov for a reunion in two acts of two very different texts: the story in Vladimir Nabokov’s novel ‘Lolita’ told from the perspective of the man who committed a murder which is far from being his major sin of love, and the judicial records of the 1431 process of Jeanne d’Arc which ended by the condemnation of Jeanne to death on the stake for witchcraft and heresy.
The two texts are very different in style and one may wonder about how they were selected and why they were brought together. I guess that the shared theme behind Lazarov’s choice is related to the position of women in the society in different places and different period of time. Both Jeanne, the national French heroine and Nabokov’s character revolt at key moments in their lives, change their destinies and pay the price. The director uses an interesting concept, as the two texts are about women, but none appears on stage. Lolita’s story is told by the older man who falls in love with her, while the role of Jeanne is played by a … robot. The two women are voices but not bodies.
The concept is interesting, but the result is mixed. There are problems with the execution and they start in my opinion with the space. The audience in the Gesher Hangar was seated on two opposite sectors as in a sports hall with the actors performing in the middle. The result is that wherever you are seated actors turn their backs to you half of the time. This is a problem, especially with Alexander (Sacha) Demidov who is a wonderful actor but was not blessed with a very clear diction. The text of Jeanne d’Arc’s trial proceedings is repetitive and does not offer enough substance for the whole second half of the performance. The classical ballet dancers play an interesting and significant role in the first act, but their presence is meaningless in the second one.
Yehezkiel Lazarov’s career is on an ascending path, with the artist undertaking the lead role in a ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ production on Broadway and in North America. Works like ‘Lolita / Jeanne d’Arc’ as stage director seem to intent to balance the commercial success with explorations in new directions. Intentions are good, but the result, at least in this case, is not as exciting as expected.