In France, 鈥榙octors鈥 are prescribing poetry
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Cooped up every day by the pandemic, 79-year-old Francoise is tired of looking at the tower blocks outside her window. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not much greenery,鈥 she said.
Luckily, her 鈥渄octor鈥 for the day has the right medicine. Isabelle Jeanbrau, a member of the Paris-based Theatre de la Ville, leafs through a folder of poems and picks one by Anna de Noailles, 鈥淭he Offerings of Nature.鈥
鈥淭o take you on a little trip,鈥 said Jeanbrau.
The reading is punctuated by little expressions of joy from the patient. 鈥淪he鈥檚 understood what I love,鈥 cooed Francoise.
They are in L鈥橢space Phare, a day center run by a mental health association, and Jeanbrau is part of a pioneering project using arts as a salve for vulnerable members of society.
The poem unleashes Francoise鈥檚 memories and soon she is recalling everything from her childhood in Vichy to her years as a seamstress at Chanel.
Jeanbrau looks through the folder for something to remind Francoise of her working days. She settles on Baudelaire鈥檚 鈥淲ith Her Pearly, Undulating Dresses.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 like she鈥檚 reading ME,鈥 she said, adding, laughing. 鈥淚f you could read these things to everyone, there wouldn鈥檛 be any more crazies out there.鈥
She is surprised that she has opened up so much to a stranger, but Jeanbrau is not.
鈥淰ery often, poems are a key that opens a door,鈥 Jeanbrau said.
And the therapy works both ways: 鈥淎t a time when artists feel totally muzzled, suddenly we have the feeling of being essential.鈥
The project began modestly with poetry readings over the phone for anyone needing a little uplift.
Planned before the pandemic, it began just at the right moment in March 2020 and proved wildly successful, delivering some 15,000 鈥減hone consultations鈥 over the past year.
Many of the most vulnerable do not speak good French, and the team added actors from different backgrounds. Now it operates in 23 different languages.
Many listeners were left in tears and emotional relationships were forged.
Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, director of Theatre de la Ville, recalls one man whom the team was phoning for his 15th reading only to find that he had died. The son told them how much the readings had meant to his father, and movingly asked them to read the poem all the same.
鈥淭hese are moments of humanity that allow us to remain hopeful,鈥 Demarcy-Mota said.
From November, the company started visiting hospitals, day centers, shelters and schools, and now has more than 100 actors, dancers and musicians 鈥 even scientists.
鈥淭heir work is always paid 鈥 I don鈥檛 believe in voluntarism,鈥 said Demarcy-Mota. 鈥淚t鈥檚 poetry, literature, theater that allow us to think about our existence, to realize that we are not alone.鈥
The idea is taking off. Next month, the company will start poetry readings in Paris parks and gardens.
It has inspired similar projects overseas. The company has built partnerships with counterparts in Italy, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia, and discussions are underway with a theater group in New York and nine more in Africa.
In the next room of the day clinic, another member of the company Mahmoud El-Haddad, a former dancer and model from Egypt, now a refugee in France, is preparing to perform for another 鈥減atient鈥 Isabelle. 鈥淲ill you dance the salsa?鈥 she asked. 鈥淭hat would remind me of my youth.鈥
Although the language barrier is tricky, they find themselves in fits of giggles, and eventually Haddad settles on an improvised dance to 鈥淪ummertime鈥 by Janis Joplin.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a chance to relax while also making this young man laugh,鈥 Isabelle said with a smile. 鈥淚t does me good.鈥
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