Reanimating Sacco and Vanzetti: Historicity in Armand Gatti’s Play Chant Public Devant Deux Chaises Électriques
Armand Gatti, who has been memorialized by many different cultural events in France this year for his 100th anniversary of birth, is one of the authentic political writers of 20th century French theater. He has also used many historical and social events as the subjects for his theater plays: the 68 Generation, the Vietnam War, the Guatemalan Civil War, Spain of Franco and many other events that have resonated not only in their own countries but all over the world. Apart from this, another subject, which Gatti did not witness personally but that his father always narrated to him, has a significant place. He operated the tragic story of the electric chair execution of two Italian workers, Sacco & Vanzetti, immigrated to America in the early 1900s, in his play Chant Public devant deux chaises électriques. In this play, Gatti built a bridge between the past, the present and the future by using various techniques in theater. At the same time, the real audience of the play experiences a play within a different play; some of the actors appear as spectators-actors. These spectators-actors on stage will identify with the real persons (and witnesses) in the Sacco & Vanzetti story by establishing a connection between their own stories, thus experiencing a kind of “catharsis” as seen in tragedies. The main question of this play, assumed to be staged simultaneously in five different cities, is “Will Sacco & Vanzetti really be executed again in this hall tonight?” Gatti’s play, reminiscent of Alain Decaux’s The Rosenbergs Must Not Die, alludes to the Rosenbergs, despite their execution preceding Sacco & Vanzetti. In this study, we will not only examine the innovations Gatti brought to theater with his play Chant public devant deux chaises électriques, but also indicate how historicity is handled in theater by the author.
Sacco ve Vanzetti’yi Yeniden Canlandırmak: Armand Gatti’nin Chant Public Devant Deux Chaises Électriques Adlı Oyununda Tarihsellik
Bu yıl doğumunun 100. yılı kapsamında Fransa’da pek çok etkinliğe konu olan Armand Gatti XX.yüzyıl Fransız tiyatrosunun özgün politik yazarlarından biridir. Aynı zamanda Gatti, pek çok tarihsel ve toplumsal olayı tiyatro oyunlarının konusu haline getirmiştir: 68 kuşağı, Vietnam Savaşı, Guatemala iç savaşı, Franco dönemi İspanya’sı gibi tüm dünyada yankı uyandıran olay ve durumları eserlerinde işlemiştir. Bunun dışında Gatti’nin tanık olmadığı ancak babasının kendisine her zaman anlattığı bir konu daha tiyatrosunda önemli bir yer teşkil etmektedir. Amerika’ya 1900’lü yılların başında göç etmiş iki İtalyan göçmen işçi Sacco& Vanzetti’nin elektrikli sandalyede infaz edilmesini Chant public devant deux chaises électriques (İki Elektrikli Sandalye Önünde Halk Türküsü) adlı oyununda ele alır. Bu oyunda Gatti, tiyatroda farklı teknikleri kullanarak geçmiş, şimdi ve gelecek arasında bir köprü kurmuştur. Aynı zamanda, oyunun gerçek seyircileri farklı bir oyun içinde oyun tadacak, bazı oyuncular seyirci-oyuncu olarak karşımıza çıkacaktır. Bu seyirci-oyuncular Sacco&Vanzetti hikayesindeki gerçek kişilerle özdeşleşecek ve kendi hikayeleri arasında bir bağlantı kuracak, böylece tragedyada görülen bir tür “arınma” yaşanacaktır. Beş farklı şehirde aynı anda sahneleneceği varsayılan bu oyunun temel sorusu “Gerçekten de bu akşam Sacco&Vanzetti yeniden bu salonda infaz edilecekler midir?” olmuştur. Bir bakıma Alain Decaux’nun Rosenbergler Ölmemeli oyununu da çağrıştıran Gatti’nin bu oyunu, Sacco&Vanzetti’den sonra infaz edilmiş olsa da Rosenbergler’e göndermede bulunmuştur.
Bu çalışmada, Gatti’nin Chant public devant deux chaises électriques adlı oyunundan yola çıkarak, Gatti’nin bu oyunuyla tiyatroya kattığı yenilikleri incelerken aynı zamanda tiyatroda tarihselliğin nasıl işlendiğini göstermeye çalışacağız.
In this article, will be examined Chant Public devant deux chaises électriques, of French theater writer Armand Gatti. The analysis of this play is based on how space and time concepts are operated by Armand Gatti. As known, Armand Gatti, memorized by various events in France this year for his 100th anniversary of birth, used many political, historical, and social events as the subjects for his theater plays, such as the ’68 Generation, the Vietnam War, the Guatemalan Civil War or Spain of Franco. As can be seen, history is an indispensable element of Gatti’s theater. In this case, there is an effort to understand history, because history is the stage of man for French writer.
His play entitled Chant public devant deux chaises électriques is analyzed in this article in a perspective that puts not only the historicity but also the usage of space/place at the center. The subject of this play is not a narration of a personal witnesses but a story that his father always narrated to him. Gatti operated the tragic story of two Italian workers, Sacco & Vanzetti who immigrated to America in the early 1900s, in this play.
The first part of this study brings together theatrical elements and determines the general frame about the relation between theater and history which is a crucial characteristic of Armand Gatti’s theater. Gatti’s most important feature at this point is that he creates a current between fiction and reality, basing it on a true historical story. In this case, for Chant public devant deux chaises électriques, he prefers the connection between theater and history not as an element of attraction on the stage but as an example of the use of time and space. Therefore, to make Gatti’s theater understandable are also given the basic factors that constitute his theater and his style.
In the second half of the article, the play is examined by its unique characteristic such as building a bridge between the past, the present and the future. As a theater technique, the real audience of the play experiences a play in a play; in other words some of the actors appears as spectators-actors. At the same time, these spectators-actors on stage identify with the real persons (and witnesses) in the Sacco & Vanzetti story which orients them to experience a kind of “catharsis” as seen in tragedy. This part of the article also intellectualizes the conception of place: Gatti’s play, assumed to be staged simultaneously in five different cities, gives weight the usage of stage as a main element of theater. There is a different time course in each city: this main diversity bring forth the differences and intersections observed between time and space perceptions about Sacco & Vanzetti’s story. Therefore also in the second part of this study, direct examples, and citation from the play abovementioned reveal in detailed way the French author’s approach to the Sacco & Vanzetti phenomenon and illustrate his thoughts on the usage of time and place.
In this case, Gatti reflects all the emotions of the human being and his destiny. In fact, as a play the elements of Gatti’s work, are so powerful that it usually crosses the moral and social borders of society: and as a writer he presents a complex theater genealogy in which time and space intertwine and theater meets reality. As a consequence, it can be easily said that the complicated relation between time, space and historicity and also morality presented in Chant Public devant deux chaises électriques by Gatti is one of the most interesting and efficient examples of the usage of historicity in French theater of 20th century.
In conclusion, it is underlined that Gatti’s play entitled Chant Public devant deux chaises électriques offers a truly convenient examples of time and space usage on stage. Ultimately, it is shown in this study that Gatti’s treatment of Sacco&Vanzetti’ story is not only as a historical event, but also as the story of man’s search for freedom, as a reflection of migrant movements and struggle for justice. In this perspective, Chant Public devant deux chaises électriques is very precious to understand in a better way the theater of Gatti and his political and historical approach to the relationship between human and morality.
