And, speaking of being in the right place, what annoys her, for example, is this hit, Hound Dog, sung by Elvis Presley. Did you know that initially, it was the work of Big Mama Thornton, great lady of the blues and one of the pioneers of rock and roll?, says Delphine Ysaye to the police officer who auditions her and, therefore, to the public. Taken up by the King, this title rose to the top of the charts while Big Mama Thornton received a check for… 500 dollars, before falling into oblivion.
Bipolarity, bisexuality, cosmetic surgery…
In the Little TTO room, the incredible, captivating voice of Big Mama Thornton resonates while her image is projected large, using archive photos and videos, around the edge of the stage, set up for used in a triangular configuration. In the center, a desk, to which Delphine Ysaye returns to sit when she resumes her testimony. A deposition which gradually turns into a confession on key and painful moments in his personal life.
So many private episodes that she judiciously and harmoniously combines, helped by Emmanuel Dell’Erba with the direction, with portraits of great female figures of rock and roll – her “heroines”as she calls them: women who inspired her with their music, their voice, their journey, their philosophy of life, their fragilities, their self-sacrifice, their rage for life… -, into whose skin she slips with a total ease.
It is impossible to recount all these trajectories in detail. So, Delphine Ysaye, as a fine connoisseur of female rock thanks to the show Ladies in Rock which she hosted for three years, chose to present them from the angle of their injuries, but which made them rebels and fighters. Dusty Springfield and his bipolar disorder; Janis Joplin and her addiction to sex and drugs; Debbie Harry (Blondie group), her bisexuality and her cosmetic surgery operations or even Courtney Love and her legal troubles. Then there is Annick, the ex-wife of a famous rock drummer, mother, addicted to cocaine and abused by her new companion, to the point of losing her life.
“I am no longer alone”
Cash without being trashy, feminist without being radical, Heroine(s) (by Delphine Isaye and Valérie Muzzi) is a one-off that clicks like a good guitar riff. Documented (the archive projections in sound and images produced by Damien Praet are particularly successful), well put together and poignant, it lifts the veil on the dark side of female rock, while revealing its omnipotence. Despite terrible trials, “thanks to this music, I had the courage to get out of it”says Delphine Ysaye. “I know that I have resources and that I am no longer alone”she smiles, citing Madonna, Björk, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, Shade, Amy Winehouse, Catherine Ringer, Beth Ditto and many others.
→ Brussels, TTO, 1h10, from 16 years old, until April 13. Info and res. at 02.510.05.10 or on www.ttotheatre.com
” or female rock: sex, drugs, alcohol, domestic violence… and rage for life){kind=link}