"He's brave," says Philippe, a spectator. Mehdi Djaadi is not shy. The actor, nominated for the Césars in 2016, for the film "I'm yours right away" by Baya Kasmi, recounts his singular trajectory in his only one on stage "Coming Out" at the Galabru theater until June 22. That of a son of Algerian immigrants who converted to Protestantism and then to Catholicism. A confusing spectacle, where the excesses of religion are not avoided. Quite the contrary.
But if he dares, it is because the thirty-something with a communicative smile knows what he is talking about. Him who bathed, adolescent, in the districts consumed by the hatred of those who mistreat "the brothers". He who also touched on banditry and the benches of children's judges. He doesn't invent anything. He talks about what he has known, with distance and offset. Always.
No question here of following naive illuminations. Mehdi thought about it a lot. We can feel it. Hence the strength of the text. We laugh when he talks about the magnetism he has for this bible on his bedside table. Psalms he reads, as captivated as the Koran long before.
Catholicism also takes it for its rank. Like when he did a quick panel of characters attending mass. "It's so realistic," strangles a spectator. We also like when he draws between two valves: "The atheist spectator must say to himself: Wow, he went far ". A "step back" which makes all the salt of the spectacle. Subtle.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 3/5
"Coming out", Wednesdays at 8 p.m. until March 18, at the Galabru theater, 4 rue de l'Armée-d'Orient (18th century). From 10 to 15 €. Rens. on theatregalabru.com
