They were written by women, are mounted or worn by women on stage. Here is a selection of 5 shows to see on Sunday March 8, this International Women's Rights Day. We loved them, go and applaud them.
"La Folle et Inconvenante Histoire des femmes"
The title is long, the piece goes (too) quickly. From the Neolithic to the 21st century, Diane Prost sets out, alone on stage, to tell the story of the history of women through the ages, chaining together invented or real characters who tell their stories.
The woman was only a "receptacle", she revolted in the 18th century, after a Civil Code which degraded her a little more. In the Middle Ages, Hildegarde resented having slept with a woman. "I will go to hell. Already, when you don't have sex as a missionary, you go to hell… ”Here she is, a nun in a rage, with her rosary… of geisha balls and her candles to replace men. We discover a misogynistic Rousseau, who dares: "Love was invented by women to dominate when their role was to obey ..."
In a light style with accelerated speech, Diane Prost chants the Revolution, goes from Olympe de Gouges to Rosa Bonheur, brandishes slogans from 1968, is called PayPal, because the woman is "a symbol of peace and a currency of 'exchange'. Written by Laura Léoni in the vein of the "Kaamelott" series, this feminine pleiad balances a historical slap, funny and necessary.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 3.5 / 5
At the Funambule Montmartre (Paris, 18th century). Until May 12. From 10.99 euros. Phone 01.42.23.88.83.
"Hedda"
Sublime and delicate, Lena Paugam gives life to the fine and precise writing of Sigrid Carré-Lecoindre who, with "Hedda", knits and unrays the thread of a love story that sinks into domestic violence, alternating points of view. The meeting first, she shy, flamboyant. The high heels he encourages him to wear "to dominate the world and be respected", the frozen baths that must be taken to "control his body" ... He is passionate, proud.
Until the evening when she shines more than he does at a cocktail party. And the first hit. Shelled in its slightest sensations. "It sounds like charcoal scrambling in the ears, hissing in front of the eyes, a vicious silence, a foreign insult [...] It is a stroke of poker, the first stroke [...]. "
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The public enters his head. Barefoot, shapeless waistcoat on evening dress, she collapses, full of fragility and delicacy. Music accompanies his night walks, the only moments of freedom. But she loves him, that bastard, and chose to wear his sadness. Until the end. Despite their daughter, an ageless kid called "child", who counts so little in this shipwreck.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 4/5
At the Belleville theater (Paris XI), until March 29. From 17 to 26 euros. Tel. 01.48.06.72.34.
"The Quay of Ouistreham"
In 2009, with the idea of reporting on the reality of an economic crisis which she is struggling to grasp, Florence Aubenas started looking for a job in Caen. The only rule: stop when we offer him a permanent contract. It lasted six months. She drew from it a story that Magali Bonat brings to life in Louise Vignaud's unadorned staging.
Quickly referred to the household sector, in ferries, mobile homes on the coast and local truckers, it integrates the world of the invisible, at work which breaks, where one slavers under infernal rates, starting at dawn, ending the night for only a handful of hours…
On stage, nothing but a flipchart and a chair, and these lively, chiseled words, lived by Aubenas that with her simple but nuanced play, sober but involved, the actress transmits us. His feelings with. Fatigue and weariness, the urgency to finish on time, the wounds of disdain of which these women are victims, disgust in front of premises covered with "brown filth" ... We dive with it. And we hold our breath.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 4/5
At the Théâtre 14 (Paris XIVe), until March 14, from 7 to 25 euros. Tel. 01.45.45.49.77.
"The Survivors"
Hidden in a petrol station near the Belgian border, between the comings and goings of trucks and the haunting noise of the highway, five women live on priceless love in suffering and fear. Sometimes caressed by hope, sometimes affected by oppression, they seek to get out of the hell of prostitution. Facing them, a man in turn embodies three customers and a pimp.
On stage, they confide their stories, their torments, their physical as well as moral wounds. Sometimes with humor to play down an oppressive situation. It is also about the commodification of their bodies.
This play, directed by Isabelle Linnartz, is inspired by testimonies collected by the Mouvement du Nid, the association that fights against the causes and consequences of prostitution. “Les Survivantes” gets around the clichés and offers a lucid look at these women who suffer in silence.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 4/5
At Théâtre 13 / Jardin (Paris XIII), until April 5. From 7 to 22 euros. Tel. 01.45.88.62.22.
"And meanwhile, Simone is watching!"
Three women, seated on a bench, talk about their daily lives. We are after the war, it is about their efforts while the men were at the front and who were not recognized. We then follow their daughters, then their granddaughters ...
With supporting cards, Simone regularly interrupts them and reminds the public of the major dates for the improvement of the status of women in France, the adoption of laws that changed their lives: wearing pants, contraception, voting rights, authorization to 'exercise a profession or open a bank account without a male agreement. Feminism and the sexual liberation of the 1970s still pass there, breast prostheses, whooping cough of the coquettes of the 1990s, decried twenty years later… Simone Veil's fight for the right to abortion, obviously, the most serious moment of 'a play with a humorous tone.
The good words burst out, a little heavy sometimes, but the room laughs heartily. Written by five women, the play was performed for the first time ... on March 8, 2012.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 3.5 / 5
At the Théâtre du Gymnase (Paris Xe). 26 euros. Tel. 01.42.46.79.79.