Jeunes chercheurs: Sandrine Siméon

I was born in France and completed my undergraduate studies at Paris III. I pursued a Master's degree in Film Studies at Concordia University in Montréal and subsequently worked in the film industry.

In 2007, I decided to further my academic endeavors. It was in a course on performance theory at Penn State University that I first became interested in the filming of theater. My background in film had finally met my affinity for theater. Benjamin Lazar’s 2004 staging of Moliere’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme drew my attention on the conceptual and practical implications of filming “live” theater. As I began my investigations, it occurred to me that hardly any theoretical research had been done. This practice had thus far received sporadic attention, which increased my curiosity and led to hypotheses I subsequently explored in my dissertation.

I obtained a PhD in French Studies from Penn State University in 2013 and currently hold a position as an Assistant Professor in the Modern Languages Department at Susquehanna University which allows me to broaden my interests in early-modern literature and theater, and concerning the many interactions between French cinema and cultural history.

My research continues to focus on the various practices of filming theater and the teaching methods of theater through film. I am currently working on a book-length study that proposes a conceptualization of the practice of filming theater to justify the significance of this genre for language, cultural and visual studies.

The overarching question my dissertation answers is whether or not filmed theater can claim status as an art form with a rhetoric of its own. In order to demonstrate that this practice is a complementary yet autonomous dramatic experience of theater, and thus a legitimate filmic form as worthy of consideration as its fictional and documentary homologues, I first deconstructed deeply rooted theater-centric beliefs responsible for the conceptual paucity surrounding what I coined as “film-theater.” Two main arguments have in effect diminished the potential for such films; namely that: 1). recording a theatrical production lessened the experience of the viewer and misrepresented the scenic space; and 2). the film should primarily “respect” its theatrical counterpart and undermine its own rhetoric in favor of the play’s; i.e. the artistic vision of the filmmaker must be subservient to the design or supposed “intention” of the stage director. My research firmly departs from these assumptions of subordination. On a conceptual level, I argue that “film-theater” exhibits a distinctive cinematic language. My research also validates that the reciprocal influence between theater and film renews their respective esthetics and that “film-theater” yields to ontological and epistemological implications worthy of analysis. On a practical level, I show how “film-theater” can serve as a didactic device that contributes to, promotes and complements literary and scenic interpretations of theater. To fulfill these objectives, I organized my study according to four distinctive criteria of determination. I first redefined the new concept of “film-theater”. Secondly, I highlighted the singular nature of this category of film. I then assessed its status as a “monument” in order to supplement its usual practical function as a “document”. Finally, I substantiated its value as an educational tool. My dissertation hence provides a comprehensive description of “film-theater” and represents the first attempt, if not to defend the practice of filming theater, at least to conceptualize it.

Defended : May 2nd 2013 at the Pennsylvania State University (Department of French and Francophone Studies), USA.
Advisor : Jean-Claude Vuillemin, Liberal Arts Research Professor
Members of the Jury :
- Monique Yaari, Professor of French Studies
- Allan I. Stoekl, Professor of French and Comparative Literature
- Heather McCoy, Senior Lecturer and Language Program Director
- Thomas O. Beebee, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Comparative Literature and German

Articles:
- «L’impossible “document” : Le Dernier Caravansérail d’Ariane Mnouchkine, un “monument” ?, European Drama and Performance Studies, 3, 2014).
- «Le "film-théâtre", un troisième temps du théâtre ?», Théâtre, levain du cinéma ; théâtre, destin du cinéma. Ed. Torti-Alcayaga, Agathe et Kiehl, Christine. Paris : Le Manuscrit, 2013. 169-183.
- «Une imposture peut en cacher une autre: le frontispice de Tartuffe démasqué.» Cahiers du dix-septième. XIII, 2 (2011): 160–183. Co-authored with Sophia Khadraoui.
- «L’esthétique “spatiale” du Lancelot de Bresson.» Sites. 15. 4 (Sept. 2011): 433-441.
- «Allotopie: vers une problématisation de l’espace scénique filmé.» Lexique commun/Lexique spécialisé. Centre de Recherche sur la Théorie et la Pratique Discursives. (2010): 275-278.

Conferences :
- «Plaire pour instruire ou instruire pour plaire ? Un texte et son contexte : le « film-théâtre » revisite Phèdre de Racine.» Shippensburg University Fifth Biennial Modern Languages Conference, Shippensburg, USA, May 2014.
- «Filming the Stage: A New Rhetoric for a New Kind of Film.» North Eastern Modern Language Association Convention, Harrisburg, USA, April 2014.
- «Validations et invalidations: le “film-théâtre“, une herméneutique des formes théâtrales textuelles et scéniques.» Modern Language Association Convention, Chicago, USA, January 2014.
- «Le film-théâtre : entre théâtre et cinéma.» Laboratoires CRIDAF de Paris 13 and New York University, Paris, France, March 2012.
- «Entre film et théâtre: l’espace frontière de la rampe.» 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, Long Beach, USA, March 2012.
- «Filmer le théâtre: plaidoyer pour une forme d’art autonome.» Société québécoise d’études théâtrales, Montréal, Canada, June 2011.
- «Le théâtre à l’écran ou le “troisième temps” du théâtre.» Conseil International d’Etudes Francophones, Montréal, Canada, July 2010.
- «Le Lancelot de Bresson, une esthétique spatiale.» 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, University of Guelph, Toronto, Canada, March 2010.
- «Signe d’une imposture ou imposture du signe: sémio-analyse du frontispice de Tartuffe.» Société d’Etudes pluridisciplinaires du XVIIe siècle, Saskatchewan University, Saskatoon, Canada, October 2008. (Co-presenter : Sophia Khadraoui)

E-mail address : simeon@susqu.edu