Berenice at the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam – Isabelle Huppert delivers a spellbinding monologue.
The Holland Festival is well known for its innovative and ground-breaking theatre. This year Romeo Castellucci brings an interpretation of Berenice to the ITA that sums up perfectly what this annual celebration of experimental art is all about.
Set in ancient Rome, the themes of loss and anguished love permeate Berenice’s every waking minute. Her true love Titus cannot marry her; as an Emperor it is forbidden to wed a foreign queen. Berenice pours her tormented soul in to hoping he’ll make an exception for her, but Titus rejects her in favour of his commitment to political life. Even the swarming affection of Titus’s best friend Antiochus fails to lift her spirits and she flees Rome forever.
On the dark and smoke-filled stage, Isabelle Huppert’s Berenice is mesmerising and haunting. Her ghoulish, solemn tone switches from soft melancholy to rage and misery in the blink of an eye. Huppert’s extraordinary voice has such force that it booms and bellows throughout the theatre, leaving the audience in no doubt of Berenice’s agony. It is a rare treat to witness such a world-renowned actress revel in a role she was seemingly born to play. Her denouement is electric, and the standing ovation deservedly lasted nearly ten minutes.
She teases the audience too, with strange props and fabrics. At one point she wheels on a radiator and delivers a monologue to it, a few minutes later she’s extracting blood smeared laundry from a washing machine. It’s confusing but brilliant. It’s a reminder that this is the Holland Festival and boundaries should be pushed. Little did playwright Jean Francine know when he wrote Berenice in the 17th century, that the astounding Isabelle Huppert would turn his tragedy in to a monologue so breathtakingly painful that it reduced a 21st century audience to silence.
But Berenice is nothing without the magnificent set. Huge drapes and textured curtains play their own role in the performance and intertwine intricately with sound and light. The pulsating beat of a heart accompanies flashing lights behind illuminated white fabrics that surround the stage and gives the sensation of being trapped in a womb while a rave is going on. Then, as Berenice falls into depression and sorrow, black shadowy curtains slowly drop like a dark cloud enshrouding her in a tragic cave of misery. It’s beautifully told.
Credit must also go to the twelve expertly choreographed extras who crawl through sheets, drag huge sculptures across the stage and bring a muddled, chaotic intensity to assist Titus in making his decision to choose power over love. The soundtrack too is psychologically disturbing; drips of splashing water, whispered angry voices and the squeak of gym shoes on a wooden floor. Bizarre but strangely fitting. Then, amongst Berenice’s growing madness, a serene and synchronised dance between Titus and Antiochus gives welcome relief and is a highlight of the 90-minute performance. Gareth Lemon 14th June 2025
Berenice runs to 15 June at the ITA and is in French with English and Dutch surtitles.
