★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. The Domain Theatre, Marion Cultural Centre. 19 Feb 2023
In Love on the Left Bank, fêted Adelaide chanteuse Louise Blackwell tells the extraordinary story of French singer and film actress Juliette Gréco who rose to international prominence and enjoyed a stellar career over 60 years up until 2015. Blackwell dresses like Gréco, and wears her hair like Gréco. Indeed, she channels Gréco.
In a show that lasts a generous 70 minutes, Blackwell gives an account of Greco’s life, loves and tribulations. Blackwell gives us heartfelt and impassioned accounts of Gréco’s relationships with famous literary figures such as Albert Camus, John Paul Sartre, Sacha Distel, and Miles Davis, and her desperate flight from the Nazis during WWII. The stories are underlined and exemplified with ardent and gutsy renditions of many of Gréco’s hit songs including Jolie Môm’, La Javanaise, Ça va le diable, and Je hais les Dimanches.
Blackwell is accompanied by a fabulous six-piece musical ensemble, comprising keys, bass, drums, saxophone, trumpet and violin. A piano accordion and a trombone make an entrance as well. The musical director – the fabulous Mark Ferguson, who also happens to be Head of Jazz at the Elder Conservatorium – leads from the keyboard effortlessly and authoritatively. The members of the ensemble take on various narration roles as the story unfolds, and Blackwell moves effortlessly around the stage conjuring up images of the night clubs of Saint Germain des Prés, the left bank bohemian district of Paris.
Blackwell is a recipient of a 2023 Fringe Artist Fund Grant, which has allowed her to research and create Love on the Left Bank. All the songs are sung in French, with the occasional verse translated into English to allow non-Francophones to connect the dots a little more easily, but it wasn’t really necessary. Blackwell is so good at telling a story through body language and facial expression that language barriers just float away. After all, music is a universal language, isn’t it?
This is a class act.
Kym Clayton
When: 28 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Domain Theatre, Marion Cultural Centre
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
