Stage Notes: Paris Commune

Since 2001, The Civilians, a very entertaining documentary theater troupe, have been presenting delightfully original works. Directed by Steven Cosson, with songs and music by Michael Friedman, their shows generally arise from extensive interviews and research that ultimately get shaped into a theater piece. For Canard, Canard, Goose they went to upstate New York and spoke to people in a community where Disney had made a documentary about migrating geese; in their more recent, long-running hit, Gone Missing, they talked to people about things that "had been lost." Their latest, Paris Commune, however, is about people who lived in Paris 140 years ago: working-class Parisians who, in 1811, overthrew the French government and tried to start their own society. Director and co-creator Cosson answered a few questions about the project. (He and Friedman are co-creators here.)

Tom Murrin: How was it working with people you couldn't interview?
Steven Cosson: Our approach was to find as much primary historical research as possible, like transcripts of meetings at the time, journals, letters, texts of posters that were put up around Paris, etc. I did a lot of research at the British Library, and both Michael and myself traveled to Paris. Michael speaks French and he found a lot more in the French archives.

TM: Will there be your usual charming musical numbers?
SC: All the songs and music are from the period. In our other shows Michael created original songs, but here he did translations and adaptations. What inspired us to do the show in the first place was that during [early 19th-Century Paris] there was a real culture of songs as journalism. A lot of songwriters then were political. Three of these songwriters were members of the Commune. As we looked at the events and the stories, we found that there were songs that referred to these events. Or they would be either satirical or inspirational.

TM: How does the show proceed?
SC: The show starts off with something like a lecture demonstration by a company of actors (there are seven actors, an opera singer and a piano player). They talk to the audience and tell the story of the commune. They animate certain texts and posters and letters that we found. As the show gains momentum, the play becomes more theatrical, and the events of the commune are brought to life through every theatrical device we have at our disposal.

TM: Anything else you'd like to add?
SC: I think it's an exciting challenge because we are trying to tell the story of an event that involved the whole city, and to get the audience to imagine that. The Paris Commune was not a revolution led by a few key leaders. It was made up of a lot of people, and different groups; it was spontaneous, and ultimately the people of the city of Paris had the power for 72 days.

Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., (212) 967-7555. Apr. 4-20. Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 & 7 p.m, $10.

Photos by Manuel Rotenberg