When I was at university I studied two subjects in great detail . One was Restoration Comedy, those stylish, witty plays full of adultery, double entendre, lechery, and the odd virtuous character. The other was the medieval bestiary, the descriptions of animals often not seen by the author, both in pictures and in words. Ancient language and imaginative pictures.
Last week the actress Isabella Rossellini presented her version of the Bestiary, the Bestiaire d'Amour. Rossellini has been an actress and a model, still is, but she has been interested in biology for a long time. She has taken time to study the subject and has combined it with her work as an actress. This has resulted in a number of short films on the reproduction of all kinds of animals. She plays them herself, the duck, the hamster, the squid, explaining the peculiarities of each animal's sex life. The seduction, the sexual act or absence of one, giving birth, taking care of the babies. She explains the facts with a great understanding and a great sense of humour. The infinite variety of life is illustrated in her stories.
The short films are now part of a live theatre performance. There is a lectern for her lecture, for much of the performance she is dressed in simple, stylish black which does not detract from the films, the stories or the props. The stories are illustrated on stage with various props and one or two costume changes, all carelessly discarded and left on the stage. She tells her story quietly, gently, but with the same sense of humour you see in the films, and with passion.
She is obviously fascinated by her subject, the animals, she knows what she is talking about, and her acting enable her to inhabit the animals rather than just talk about them. Watching her was a joy.
