Sunday, October 24, 2021

Slightly rhomboid chicken-person postcard sent to Brussels

OK, we're in France with chickens again, but this time we are the chickens, the chickens are us, and it may be impossible to say which is which. This slightly skewed postcard, sold at a shop in Paris, appears to be promoting a production of the Edmond Rostand play Chantecler, which premiered in Paris in 1910. As Wikipedia explains: 
"Rostand was inspired to write the play after exploring the farming countryside around his new home, Villa Arnaga, in the Basque Country of the French Pyrenees, where he had come to live for health reasons after the phenomenal success of Cyrano de Bergerac and L'Aiglon. ... This is Rostand's most personal play, reflecting his deep love for the French countryside and its simple way of life; his disgust at the increasing cynicism and materialism in French society, and the constant anguish he felt as a creative artist."
In the play, all of the characters are barnyard animals and the actors dress the part. Hence, actors in full chicken outfits, as if they're getting ready to hawk fast food or encourage Padres fans to start the wave.

But here's the final question: Is this a clay sculpture made to look like a human being dressed as a chicken, or is it a human being dressed as a chicken made to look like a clay sculpture?

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