Saturday, December 16, 2006

Guignol

Take one Montmarte church replete with cherubim. Combine with overwritten scripts and overacting players. Add a dash of illicity. Garnish with a slice of death, et voila: Behold the Grand Guignol.

Who knew the body held so many guts and there were so many ways to bring them to the surface? Arms, legs and heads were violently torn from their owners. Blood flowed, eyeballs bounced. Actual crimes of the days were reenacted with flourish, making the Grand Guignol the Law & Order of its day. Society swells and riff-raff alike sat prepared to be enthralled and disgusted and possibly pelted with entrails, a doctor always in the wings to treat the faintable. Apparent spectators could be in a trice dragged stageward for subsequent torture and rape. C'était horrible.

Next to the Eiffel Tower, it was The Place To Go when you visited Paris.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds just like The Internet. Or The World.



'Cept there ain't no doctor in the wings.

Anonymous said...

Life can be entertaining even better than the best show in your dark side of our world.

Hope the link won't break with the hereafter, we still have so many news to hear from there!

Jay King said...

Didier - I am flattered to be added to your excellent blog. To be included beside such talented artists is an honor. Your descriptions display great imagination and glee. Thanks for transcending the hereafter.