It’s All About Escape and Space for the Star of “The Testament of François Villon”

My Essential Seven: Jean-Luc Boucherot.

Jean Luc

On June 5, 1455, the French activist, poet and thief François Villon killed a priest with a sword. As punishment, he was banished from Paris, but he was eventually given a royal pardon and went on to influence none other than Bob Dylan, who said in his liner notes for The Times They Are a-Changin’ that he wrote “with the sounds of François Villon echoin’ through my mad streets.”

“What I’m fascinated by is his connection with a dramatic period of time, his profound vision of the value of existence and how frail and fragile it is in a moment of despair, in a moment when everything is about to collapse,” says Jean-Luc Boucherot, who plays Villon in Hand2Mouth’s one-man show The Testament of François Villon. “He had a short life and [he lived] in an explosive way.”

The Testament of François Villon, based on Villon’s autobiographical poem The Testament, features music by the medieval band Musica Universalis and a puppet that director Štepán Šimek describes as a “dark passenger” reminding Villon of his mortality. Yet the show revolves around Boucherot, a French American actor who is a member of Hand2Mouth’s company and a Portlandia veteran.

When I interviewed Boucherot about the seven things he considers essential in his life, he said, “I don’t know if you noticed, but they’re all related to space, and they all offer a possibility to escape.” Whether he’s seeking serenity in civilization or nature, Boucherot likes to lose himself in a place, a desire that evokes the words of Villon himself: “We were two, but only had one heart.”

1. The River

I would say La Seine and the Willamette or the Columbia—they share something for me that’s important. They kind of offer a place where I can escape and contemplate, and a connection with water that’s close to the city.

2. The Forest

Fire, there is a natural dimension to it, something absolutely fantastic, but it’s also terrifying. When I walk around and look at trees, I’m always thinking, “The sky was here before us and hopefully will be there after us.” At the same time, right now all of that is in danger and it’s frightening.

3. The City

I really enjoy the lack of people, the absence of human beings sometimes. But what I like about cities is you can lose yourself in them. Sometimes you can walk the same streets over and over and never pay attention to what’s going on. But if you stop and you sit and you observe, you can see beautiful things, and I think the city is very inspiring—especially for an actor looking at people.

4. The Heat

You have to learn how to deal with it. It’s like when it’s snowing. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the day after it snows, there is some kind of a silence. It kind of slows down everything, and that’s something I really like. And, of course, the heat reminds you how much you like the fresh, the water, the cold.

5. The Rain

The first time I came to Portland, I think it was in 2003, I was back and forth between France and Portland for a while, but I remember counting 23 days and nights of rain. It really pushes you to places inside your inner self. You have to experiment and you have to feel.

6. The Train

I love to look out the window and look at the scenery going by. I traveled a lot in France by train, from the south to north, and also from France to Germany. There is something about train tracks empty of trains that has a solitude effect. The scenery in Portland, where you can see those train tracks sometimes when it’s dark, they always kind of invite you to somewhere else.

7. The Beach

The opportunity to walk and feel the elements, the loneliness, the solitude, the dimension, the sky, the ocean, it’s really something absolutely unique. To me, it’s like cleaning my spirit, my head. Every time I go, I come back and I feel like a new person. I’m not a big fan of crowded beaches. I look for the natural aspect of it, connection with tranquility, calm and space. That’s always what I’m looking for.

SEE IT: Danse Macabre: The Testament of François Villon plays at the Shoebox Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 503-217-4202, hand2mouththeatre.org. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 and 7:30 pm Sunday, Sept. 16-Oct. 3. $5-$25.

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