Local chanteuse, Claire Watling, after a noticeable absence as a cabaret soloist, makes an inspired comeback with Kissed by Brel.
After Jacques Brel’s enormous European success spread to the English language countries in the late Sixties and early Seventies, Brel is somewhat off-Broadway these days. His lyrics are perhaps too complex for popular tastes, though the raw emotion they convey and the striking images he uses are apparent to Everyman, the intelligence behind them is subtle, layered and poetic. Brel is quintessentially theatrical – compassionate, even when viciously sardonic. Notoriously difficult to translate, the English lyrics do him fair justice – some more so than others – but it allows local audiences to enjoy Brel’s wit and insight.
From the hundred songs the Belgian genius left at his premature death, director Geoffrey Hyland has chosen well. Kicking off with the lyrical Carousel, the running order is perfectly judged, with finely timed shifts between darkness and relief, hinging on three climactic numbers, evenly spaced – If you go away (Ne me quitte pas), Marieke and Amsterdam.
Hyland has ensured this is a tour de force. Godfrey Johnson is a rare piano accompanist whose distilled musical arrangements heighten Brel’s pathos. Luke Ellenbogen’s masterful lighting design accentuates Watling’s performance, and Dicky Longhurst’s striking silk satin costume and chiffon scarf gives her the star quality she deserves. Hyland’s simple, elegant, black set is cunningly sympathetic to the edgy theatrical space the Intimate Theatre has become for Cape Town audiences.
Watling is spellbinding. An extraordinary vocal range, superb timbre, and
a riveting dramatic presence, add up for a potent combination. It is uncanny how as a female singer, Watling makes Brel’s virile masculine songs work flawlessly. Having heard Ute Lemper’s rendition of Amsterdam sung in English, Watling need take no prisoners.
