A clean house

Another first last weekend: first time to see a French play! About twelve years ago, I saw "The Glass Menagerie" at the Royal Alexandre Theatre in Toronto. Kiefer Sutherland and Shirley douglas played mother and son in the play. I enjoyed the show, it was theatre as I remembered it. And since then ... nada. But Friday, I went to see "The clean house". Well written, well translated, funny. The acting however dissapointed. Hardly any voice projection at all, mostly high pitched unnatural talking.If this has to do wit the directorial vision, then it is fine. But if it is a symptom of what became the norm these days, then it is sad. A good actor should know how to project his or her voice, have excellent diction and speak a clean language, devoid of accents. There is no way around it. I remember seing "Caligula" in the mid-eighties. The hall was probably five times as big as the one Friday. There were no mics and no technology. Yet, I could hear everything clearly from my seat all the way at the back. The actors had such voices that they could have read the phone book and make it sound like Shakespeare. Or, this was definetely missing Friday. Next week, I will go see "Le roi se meurt". Can't wait to "hear" that one...