The Department of World Languages and Cultures Presents “A Bilingual Reading of Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince"
This Friday, a special event will present Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's fabled Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) in a way never experienced before: more than 20 people will read the book in the original French, with English subtitles projected on the screen of the Michael and Kimthann Lê Planetarium at Old Dominion University. The event will be free and open to the public. Dr. Peter Schulman, professor of French in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, shares how this event turned from an idea into a project that encompasses voices from across the Hampton Roads Community.
"The idea was to be as inclusive as possible and have as many voices of all ages participate to form one melodious theatrical experience as though it were a small symphony. For those who don't speak French, an English version of the text with all its illustrations will be simultaneously projected onto a giant screen behind the speakers so that they can be immersed in the French ambience but still understand all the words.
When Charlotte Kasic, the director of the Barry Art Museum, convened a group of likeminded professors and artists to come up with ways to both promote and feed off of the Luke Jerram Museum of the Moon exhibit, I was thinking of lots of possible ideas: a talk on Jules Verne's novel From the Earth to the Moon; a screening of Georges Meliés' pioneering silent film A Trip to the Moon but it was after a "eureka!" moment with Theater Department Facilities Manager and theater designer Woody Robinson that a reading The Little Prince idea was hatched. "Why not do a reading of the The Little Prince?," Woody suggested. "It's a beloved international book that takes place on a moon-like asteroid, and moreover this year is the 75th anniversary of the book's publication."
At first we thought we would do a reading of it outdoors near Luke Jerram's giant exhibition moon, but as I had worked a few times with Justin Mason the director of the new Michael and Kimthanh Lê Planetarium on last year's "Night of Ideas" and a special planetarium show on Jules Verne, we thought, "let's have the reading in the planetarium itself. The new state of the art planetarium would instantly take spectators away from everyday life and propel them into the dreamy world of Saint-Exupéry's beloved novel."
As a reading by one single person of a 150-page book would be numbing, I got the idea of creating a polyphonic reading in French and recruited 24 French speakers for each chapter of the book from every aspect of French life in Hampton Roads and the university. It includes many French professors, French majors, and alumni from the Department of World Languages and Cultures, as well as graduate students and faculty from across the university, of course, but also local professors and high school teachers from Norfolk Academy, Norfolk State University and Christopher Newport University, members of the local Alliance Française, French speakers from the French business community and at-large francophiles and their children. A reading of the story by many underlines how The Little Prince has a universal message that reaches all age groups and all nationalities. You don't have to be a kid to be moved and inspired by it!
For those who grew up with The Little Prince, this will be a unique theatrical experience to enjoy it in a totally unique immersive manner; for those who have never read it, the planetarium experience will be a wonderful way to be introduced to it and to be transported far away from the worries of the week!"
"The Department of World Languages and Cultures Presents "A Bilingual Reading of Saint-Exupery's of The Little Prince" will take place October 8 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the community. Find more information on the Barry Art Museum's website.