Life Of Edith Piaf

Review: Piaf, People's Theatre, Newcastle

DELVING into the shrouds of mystery that enclosed the life of iconic French singer Édith Piaf, Pam Gems’s dramatic new play portrays the life of the musical and cultural star in uncompromising actuality and authentic ambience.

The plot follows the life of the singer from her childhood in poverty to her discovery by club owner Louis Leplée, who nicknamed her Piaf (Sparrow) because of her extreme nervousness and petite height.

As her fame grew, so did the success of her songs. Specialising in ballads, her biggest hits included Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien and La Vie En Rose.

Jenny Strawson was made for the role of Edith – her stunning voice adapts itself perfectly to suit the warbling French ballads Piaf was renowned for.

She shows impeccably how the crude young girl, who spent most of her life on the streets, struggles to cope in her new elite surroundings. Piaf suffered great tragedy throughout her life, including the deaths of the love of her life, Marcel Cedan, and her mentor Leplée, and Strawson shows painfully raw emotions in these scenes.

However, a good background knowledge of Édith Piaf would be useful when watching this play. At times the scenes feel disjointed and the countless characters which crop up throughout can make it hard to follow.

Whilst the first half of the play is filled with the good-hearted humour of a young Piaf attempting to adapt to her new-found fame, the second half focuses on her meltdown – her drink and drug addictions as well as her psychological issues. These harrowing scenes make for intense viewing and, add into the mix a number of Piaf’s heart-rending and moving songs, the play can make difficult viewing.

Books: “No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf” « CharlesPaolino's Blog

 Want to see Edith Piaf, who turned up from time to time on Ed Sullivan’s TV show, “Toast of the Town.” It was all a part of being young and ignorant. I later learned to appreciate what an astounding singer Piaf was, but I knew nothing of her background before reading Carolyn Burke’s recent biography.

Piaf had a rough life in many respects. She was born in 1915 in a poor part of Paris to nearly indigent parents – her father an acrobat named Louis Gassion and her mother a drug-addicted street singer whose professional name, as it were, was Line Marsa. Louis and Line separated and Line played almost no part in Edith’s life except to occasionally surface and ask for money — which Edith usually provided. Louis took responsibility for his daughter, although that meant, for a time, that he left her to live in a brothel that was managed by his mother. He later reclaimed the girl and took her “on the road” with him — first while he performed with a circus and then when he returned to the streets. Edith had to work, keeping house, passing the hat when Louis performed on the street, and eventually singing for coins herself.

When she was 16, Edith convinced  her father to let her live on her own, but she maintained a close relationship with him for the rest of his life, which eventually meant supporting him. As a result of one of the first of a very long string of romantic and/or sexual relationships, she bore a child, a girl, who died at the age of two — an experience that affected Edith for the rest of her life. She gradually developed as a singer on the street and in Paris dives, but her career took off after she was discovered by a shady character named Louis Léplee, who booked her in his cabaret and taught her some things about performing before the public. He also dubbed her “piaf” — “sparrow” — because of her stature (4’10″) and her bird-like gestures.

Edith Piaf specialized in chasons réaliste, songs of realism that expressed the sorrows of the lower class — including the prostitutes, beggars, and love-starved sailors who were among the singer’s earliest acquaintances. Frustrated love was a constant theme in these songs and in Edith Piaf’s life.