Word: geidt
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Rameau's Nephew is ostensibly the record of a conversation between two characters, I (Jeremy Geidt) and He (Tony Shalhoub), at the Cafe de la Regence in Paris. I is a philosopher who spends hours "observing all, talking to none," at his favorite haunts. He is the outcast nephew of the celebrated French composer Jean Philippe Rameau. Their verbal duel can either be interpreted as a disagreement of lifestyles between two people or as a vocalized internal struggle within an ambiguous individual...
...event, the argument is essentially over money. Can one live, as the philosopher does, in a state of perpetual disdain towards the material world? Or is it, as Rameau's nephew insists, "so hard to be poor when all around you are rich?" As the more conventional character, Geidt's arguments are invariably less interesting. To his credit, however, Geidt manages to hold the audience's attention while maintaining the same position on stage and without changing his facial expression for several minutes at a time...
Diderot's spiked dialogue helps, of course, but it is largely Geidt's dry voice and haughty demeanor which keep us interested. He's a John Houseman of the 18th Century, able to deflate the ego of Rameau's nephew without having to look him in the face. The philosopher also has a knack for preempting our own views of Rameau's nephew, "I believe you have brought the art of debasement to new heights," he declares, "I think I liked you better as a musician than as a moralist...