Histoires & Reves d'Artois

So how cold does it really get on a Sepetember night here? Well, I don't know the all-time low, but I do know that it was seven degrees celcius here last night. I went with M. Polveche and we saw a performance of Histoires and Reves d'Artois in Saint-Laurent-Blangy. It was great! The performance was both simple and extravagant at the same time. I would call what we saw a play, but I really don't think it qualifies; in fact, I have no idea what to call it. Hugues and I sat among a few other Rotary members and a crowd of probably over a thousand people in something similar to a football stadium outside. The performance did not take place on a stage, like a play, but on the field in front of the stadium. There were only four out of 750 actors who had speaking parts. Those four people were a director, a costume designer, and two inspectors, and they more or less narrated what was happening. The spectacle began with fire. It was amazing because all of the actors walked out dramatically, carrying torches, and since it was dark, it looked like the line of fire went on for miles. From there it went through the history of Arras in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The size of the cast was incredible, and had an amazing effect. The props and settings were great, too! There was a the biggest horse I have ever seen, a cavalry of at least twenty-five other horses. The actors set up a graveyard in seconds without being seen, as they did with most of the other settings. There were lights in the ground. There were a watermill, two fountains, fireworks, tanks, a fair that included a man with an actual old-fashioned camera, and a train! It was quite impressive! I only wish I could have understood more of what the four narrators said, but here there is a time of night when my brain stops functioning (I hope that changes soon).