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At the Théâtre de la Colline, Wajdi Mouawad will not deprogram neither Bertrand Cantat nor Jean-Pierre Baro

2021-10-19T17:46:47.328Z


In a long text sent to the press, the playwright refuses to “take the place of justice”. He also castigates the lynching in which the MeTooThéâtre movement is engaged, while claiming to adhere "unreservedly to the fights for equality between women and men and that against ...


Since the words of the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, Monday, October 18 on France Inter, the MeTooThéâtre movement wants to blacklist the management of the Théâtre de La Colline.

In question, the competition of the singer Bertrand Cantat, as composer, in the

Mother

show

, staged by the head of the institution, Wajdi Mouawad.

But also a staging by Jean-Pierre Baro, targeted by a rape complaint dismissed in 2019. In a long press release published on Tuesday, October 19, Wajdi Mouawad responds to what he designates as a

"contemporary form of" inquisition ”

.

See also # MeToothéâtre: victims of gender-based and sexual violence engage headlong in the fight

"If I fully support the fights for equality between women and men and against violence and sexual harassment, I can in no way support or share the sacrifice that some people make, at the expense of justice, of our rule of law ”

, details the man of the theater, for whom

“ it is out of the question to [replace] justice. Even less in a country like France where this institution, far from being perfect, does not have the level of corruption of a country like Lebanon, to name only

[its]

country of origin ”

.

Grave, the playwright warns against the practice of the People's Court:

“As soon as civilians decide to take justice into their own

hands

, history has shown us that, apart from a few eloquent exceptions, they have ventured out onto land. slippery where revenge has taken precedence over the complexity of conflicts. For my part, I refuse to join a movement which, without even being aware of it, takes over the scoria of a rancid Catholicism rehashing until nausea the original sin leading to the appalling notion of "infinite debt" according to Deleuze's expression. "

"To participate in this movement which punishes beyond justice and law, it is sending a terrible message to the young generations, the sign that it will be always more effective for them to regulate by themselves and with stabs harassment of which they could be victims rather than referring to a school or parental authority "

Wajdi Mouawad

Spinning the comparison, Wajdi Mouawad qualifies his detractors as

“good Catholics

[…]

all the more destitute because they believe they are secular and liberated”

.

In reality, these, according to him,

“set up neither more nor less than a contemporary form of inquisition, as convinced and blinded by their fight as the most obstinate Jesuits were convinced and blinded by theirs.

I will never associate myself with this dictatorship which does not speak its name.

And that no one comes to oppose me, to me, the notion of victim.

I was a victim ”

.

Read also The women of Wajdi Mouawad in the middle of a storm

He also explains refusing to play vigilante.

"If one day I come, me or someone I love, my brother, my sister, my son, my daughter, to be accused, I would like justice to take care of protecting in accusing, rather than this crowd which, by accusing, lynch "

, he lashes.

"To participate in this movement which punishes beyond justice and law, it is sending a terrible message to the young generations, the sign that it will be always more effective for them to regulate by themselves and with stabs harassment of which they could be victims rather than referring to a school or parental authority. ”

"If the Minister of Culture or the President of the Republic, who appointed me, consider that my positions are contrary to the republican principles, that one or the other let me know and I will leave the direction of the theater on -field "

Wajdi Mouawad, director of the Théâtre de la Colline

“This is why my position as director of La Colline is as follows: anyone who is free under the law has the right to come and go, to be invited as a spectator or as an artist. I did not believe that in the land of Human Rights, I should defend the presence of a free citizen within the confines of a public theater ”

, asserts the director. He nevertheless concedes that

"the attention due to the words of the plaintiffs combined with the slowness of the legal proceedings

[...]

leads one to think that, if a person programmed or invited to the theater is involved in legal proceedings, I will 'will encourage them to withdraw from programming until the work of justice has been completed ”

. But, he says,

“To date, no one is in this situation in the programming of the Théâtre de la Colline”

.

"I hear the brutality of the current situation

", continues Wajdi Mouawad, saying he is in a

"difficult situation"

.

A person who has committed a crime or an offense against a woman becomes forever, whether heard, indicted, tried, exonerated, convicted, imprisoned, released, a symbol of violence against women.

Forever."

But,

"either we forbid him for good the freedom to create to protect the symbol, but then we weaken justice, or we choose to lean against judicial institutions but then we undermine the symbol"

.

Read alsoTheatre: Wajdi Mouawad and Arthur H. on a trip

"Whether we make this choice rather than the other, this one rather than that one, is a matter of personal conviction

," he insists.

I am not trying to convince anyone here and if the Minister of Culture or the President of the Republic, who appointed me, consider that my positions are contrary to republican principles, let one or the other let me know and I will leave the direction of the theater immediately, ”he

asks in an ultimatum.

Pessimistic, finally, the playwright regrets

"that in the times in which we live, there

[are]

few possible dialogues"

.

“What I write here, I know, will be inaudible to those who do not share my point of view. The civil movement which advances and blows inexorably is unilateral. He does not suffer from any nuance

”, regrets Wajdi Mouawad.

"I am convinced that the thread that should guide us in the labyrinth of our relationships should not be the morality of virtuous indignation but the idea of ​​treating others as we would like to be treated if, one day, fallen in our turn, the world considered us as the last of the disbelievers, ”

he continues. Before warning the new virtuous:

“Greek tragedies teach us not to assume self-esteem.

One day, it could be me the subject of retribution.

It is wise to be careful.

Anyone who comes to La Colline is welcomed: occupants of a theater, police officers, former detainees, migrants, actors, old people, young people.

Justice and hospitality can also be a choice. ”

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-10-19

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