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Prvi zajednički rad Žizel Vijen sa piscem ikonom Denisom Kuperom, I Apologize, savršen je spoj plesa, teksta, lutkarstva, muzike i čiste pameti. Mladić (Džonatan Kapdevijel) nemirno hoda po jako osvetljenoj beloj pozornici među velikim brojem špediterskih sanduka poprskanih krvlju. Otvara jedan i vadi lutke dvanaestogodišnjih devojčica obučenih u fetišističku odeću učenica. Glas Denisa Kupera čita opis bračnog nasilja. Ton Petera Reberga - neka vrsta užasa destilovanog u buku - dostiže zapanjujuću snagu. Anja Rotenkamp obučena u istu kratku suknjicu i sa gustim šiškama kao lutke učenice, ali u vrtoglavim sjajnocrnim S&M štiklama, kruži po pozornici; njeni pokreti nagoveštavaju permutacije nasilnog seksa - penje se na kule od sanduka, puzi, širi i skuplja noge u mučnoj sporoj rešenosti, izvija leđa kao и neprestanoj agoniji i ekstazi, Njen kontrapunkt, Žan-Lik Verna - obrijana glava, crvena kontaktna sočiva, metalni zubi i istetovirano telo - deluje potpuno zastrašujuće i dijabolično. No, njegovo kretanje je, na neki čudan način, graciozno i onda kada zauzima poze kojima citira Nižinskog kombinujući ih sa grčevitim i zamršenim klupskim đuskanjem; istovremeno je i preteće i veličanstveno. Odlomci teksta kombinuju se sa radnjom na pozornici da bi se pojačalo osećanje napetosti i strave koja kida utrobu; otvaraju se neverovatno uznemirujući svetovi nasilne, zlostavljačke seksualne fantazije. U jednom od njih, muškarac razgovara sa kompjuterizovanim glasom koji odgovara na njegov onlajn oglas za mladića koji želi da bude seksualno zlostavljan. Muškarac ispituje glas о zlostavljanju u detinjstvu, u čemu pronalazi seksualno zadovoljstvo, pa traži sve detaljnije informacije. Raspakuju se nove lutke, postavljaju da sede i zastrašuju; mnoge ostavljaju da sede, što dodatno povećava tenziju ionako uznemirujućeg mizanscena. Prizori koji sugerišu mučenje, seksualno zlostavljanje i übistvo devojčica kombinuju se sa uznemirijuće zavodljivim seksualizovanim plesom potčinjavanja Roterkampove. Kapdevijel stavlja strašne životinjske maske ргеко lica lutaka, dok se па drugom mestu pojavljuje u maski Džar Džar Binksa. Utisak je istovremeno jeziv i vrlo smešan. ü svakom trenutku otvaraju se nove price i sugestije. Izvođenje, muzika i tekst mešaju se i počinje moćno istraživanje najmračnijih strana ljudske psihe. Umesto da navodi publiku da sastavi priču ili traga za smislom, predstava otvara prostor u kojem intelekt potpaljuju višestruki nadražaji doksu nervi pod naletom animalnog osećanja. Gledalacje potpuno uronjen u noćnu moru, a svaki nov element stvara i nijansira njena moguća značenja. Opšti utisak je šokantan, potresan: adrenalin je na vrhuncu, a mozak u groznici. Ovo je najuzbudljivije, najpotresnije veče koje sam ikad proveo u pozorištu - i fizički i umetnički. Uprkos užasu, I Apologize nekako uspeva da bude izuzetno lepo, a и nekim trenucima dostiže se izvestan osećaj katarze. Neverovatno ostvarenje. Endrju Hejdon Baltoscandal, 2-5. jul 2008.

Gisèle Vienne's first collaboration with iconic writer Dennis Cooper, / Apologize is a perfect marriage of dance, text, puppetry, music and sheer intelligence. A young man (Jonathan Capdevielle) paces listlessly on a brightly lit white stage among a large number of blood spattered plywood packing cases. He opens one and fetches out life-like mannequins of 12-year-old girls dressed in a fetishistic schoolgirl outfits. Dennis Cooper's voice reads out a description of marital violence. Peter Rehberg’s soundtrack - a kind of distillation of terror into noise - builds to an appalling pitch of intensity. Anja Rötterkamp dressed in the same short skirt and heavy fringe as the schoolgirl dolls and wearing vertiginous shiny black S&M heels circles the stage, her movements suggesting permutations of violent sex; climbing the towers of packing crates, crawling on all fours, spreading and closing her legs with agonising slow-motion deliberation, arching her back as if in continual agony and ecstasy. Her counterpoint, Jean-Luc Verna - shaved head, red contact lenses, metal teeth and a body covered in tattoos - looks utterly terrifying and satanic. His stage presence, however, is strangely graceful, striking poses that quote Nijinsky combined with moments of jerky, intricate nightclub-dancing: at once menacing and magnificent. The fragments of text to combine with the onstage action to increase the sense of tension and gut-wrenching fear, opening up incredibly disturbing worlds of violent, abusive sexual fantasy, in one, a man talks with a computerised voice answering his online advert for a young man who wants to be sexually abused. The man questions the voice about being abused as a child, clearly gaining sexual pleasure from the details, demanding more and more explicit information. More dolls are unpacked, seated and threatened, many left to sit ratcheting up the already disturbing mise-en-scene. Scenes suggesting the torture, sexual abuse and murder of young girls combine with Rötterkamp's disturbingly seductive, sexualised dance of submission. Capdevielle puts scary animal masks on the doll's faces, while elsewhere he enters wearing a Jar Jar Binks mask - the effect is at once extraordinarily creepy and very funny. Every moment opens multiple narratives and suggestions. The performances, the music and the text intermingle to create a powerful exploration of the darkest parts of the human psyche. Rather than making the audience piece together a story, or search for meaning, the performance opens a space where the intellect is fired by multiple stimuli while the nerves are assaulted by visceral sensation. The viewer is completely surrounded by and immersed in a nightmare, while every new element creates and refines its possible meanings. The overall effect is shocking, shattering: leaving one's body adrenalised and the mind racing. It is the single most exciting, thrilling night I have ever spent in a theatre, both physically and artistically. Despite the horror, I Apologize also somehow manages to be extraordinarily beautiful, with the final moments achieving a sense of catharsis. An incredible achievement. Andrew Haydon Baltoscandal, July 2-5, 2008