On 27 June and 5 July, the association presented two shows that at first glance seemed unrelated. On closer analysis, however, they offered two glimpses into the lives of Margaret Macdonald and Charles Rennie Mackintosh and into their intimacy.
The first, on 27 June, took place in Port-Vendres at the Théâtre de la mer, on the hill of Béar so dear to Charles, where he painted five of his Roussillon watercolours.
In two successive performances, one in English and the other in French, Clara Silber took us into Margaret’s intimate world. She imagined her stream of thoughts a few years after the death of her husband, evoking her life and her love for him, a text perfectly staged and performed with talent and verisimilitude. It had been received with interest and approval by the experts at the CRM Society a few weeks earlier. During these performances it was again acclaimed by a large audience of loyal fans as well as newcomers, both residents of and visitors to our port.
The second, on 5 July, took place in the prestigious setting of the El Casal Museum in Palalda, which also houses one of our association’s exhibtion centres. The members of the Port-Vendres writing workshop, directed by Pascale Garreau, read extracts from real and fictional letters written by Charles from Port-Vendres to his wife, while she was away in May-June 1927. In them, he recounts his life and his loneliness away from Margaret. Once again, the audience turned out in force to enjoy these readings in several voices, both in French and in English.
It was a great reward for Clara and our ten or so volunteers who devoted their time and energy to these events, and also for our association which is always on the lookout for tributes to our artistic couple.
