Peter PoplaskiHommage
A SAD SO-LONG TO ALAIN SCHONS
The Place Florian in the town of Sauve isn’t what it used to be. It’s minus a hollow plane tree removed recently that once stood before Le Micocoulier Restaurant, an establishment that served bon cuisine for a few decades and decommissioned twenty years ago. Both were former local Sauve landmarks. Now, an extension of those things that once were, is the demise of Alain Schons. I find myself sad at everyone’s loss of this creative person. Alain was a local international theatre man who was once one of the creators of the Dell’Arte Players Company in northern California and who helped adapt an American underground comic book “Whiteman Meets Bigfoot”, by Robert Crumb into a popular touring comedy show sensation in the 1980s. Returning to France, Alain helped develope cabaret musical shows, he trained clowns such as the hilarious “les Fluks” quartet, he worked with puppeteers Catherine Kremer and Jean Claude Lefortier on “Les Philosophes”, followed by a fantastic spectacle involving the Mexican snake god “Quetzalcoatl”, and then there was “La Cour des Choses” for Theatre d’O. These complicated projects Alain worked on while also being the chef of Le Micocoulier restaurant that attracted creative clientele to the medieval village of Sauve in the south of France. These were amazing experiences to see and draw in my sketchbook, plus, I have been always grateful for Alain passing my name on to the Comedia dell’arte group, Carboni & Spirituosi in Marseille so that I could be involved in their version of “Zorro la Legende” in 1997. For me, Alain Schons was a conductor who made one aware of the magical “Fellini moments” of life, meaning the surprise of something funny that could only happen to you personally while in France.
Merci Alain Schons.
Peter Poplaski in Green Bay Wisconsin on a cold snowy day.