The overall framework is a familiar one – an older person has, for one reason or another, an opportunity to tell their life story. They might be waiting for a late running, overworked and underpaid carer to arrive, or doing an attic clearance, the latter invariably involving picking up various items, looking at them, and telling the audience what the object in hand reminds them of. Here, Claude Monet (Stephen Smith) looks back over the decades, freely talking about his personal and professional lives. I suppose different people will take different aspects of the story away with them, but what stood out for me was his determination to continue painting in the face of substantial opposition, which seemed to go beyond the usual jealousy of people who just don’t appear to like it when others are successful at what they do.
The ‘problem’, as some of Monet’s contemporaries saw it, was his lack of embellishment in his paintings – it was as if he were taking photographs before photography became commonplace, such that whatever was ‘ugly’ was painted as ‘ugly’ (and, of course, whatever was beautiful was also painted as such). Then there was the confusion between Monet and (Édouard) Manet – after all, both were prone to controversy amongst the establishment, though there would probably have to be another show called A Montage of Manet to deep dive into all of that.
Commendably, Smith retains a British accent for this show – the audience is on board straight away with it, knowing that Monet would, of course, have ‘actually’ spoken in French. Putting on a French accent to speak in English is superfluous at best and irritating at worst. I wasn’t overly enamoured by the background music in this production – it was rather like sitting in a posh restaurant and trying to listen to someone talk over ambient piano music. A large number of still and moving images are projected onto a screen, and those in the audience already familiar with Monet’s works gave nods of acknowledgement and sounds of recognition whenever a painting appeared. An intriguing portrait (sorry), it’s possible to enjoy the show without knowing anything about Monet beforehand. A fascinating and sophisticated production.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Claude Monet lived from 1840 to 1926 and is often hailed as the ‘founder of impressionism’. This brand new solo show examines the complex inner thoughts of the main behind the paintings. The audience joins an aged Monet in his studio at Giverny. He is suffering from unsuccessful cataract surgery and burdened with a daunting commission to create his – what will be – world-famous Water Lillies. With the innovative inclusion of multi-media projection and sound design, Monet (played by prolific solo show creator, Stephen Smith) takes the audience on a journey through his life. We become privy to his thoughts on fellow impressionists, gain insight on his ground-breaking artistic techniques, absorb an education on the development of the impressionist movement, and learn controversial and sordid details regarding his private life.
Written by Joan Greening
Performed and Directed by Stephen Smith
Music by Joseph Furey
Technical Operator: Stephanie Van Driesen
Projection Design by Stephen Smith
A MONTAGE OF MONET
2 to 17 August 2024
Greenside @ George Street at the Edinburgh Fringe
Shows and events booking now for Edinburgh Playhouse and for King’s Theatre Glasgow.
