The Bar de l'Oriental:
a sentimental crossover
A formerly luxurious family home in Lang Son, Tonkin.
At the beginning of October 1950, four years before the French defeat at Diên Bien Phu and the signing of the Geneva Accords.
Behind a transparent curtain, the young Mai Thanh Nam plays a tune of Vietnamese music on the flute.
Clouds of smoke invade the stage of the Théâtre Montparnasse lit in half-tones by Olivier Oudiou.
Mountains covered with scattered forests stand out in chiaroscuro like a Chinese landscape (design by Emmanuel Charles).
Wildlife sounds echo.
The characters evolve in a heavy and disturbing atmosphere.
In a white silk nightie, Dorothée (Gaëlle Billaut-Danno) quarrels with Jean, her husband (Valentin de Carbonnières alternating with Charles Lelaure), who is hesitating between becoming a soldier and a painter.
"
You are scared!
», she reproaches him bluntly.
He is very jealous of the men who fall under the spell of his wife.
Starting with “Bobby”, the handsome military leader with gray temples (Pierre Deny) with whom Dorothée rides on horseback and occasionally fights the Viet Minh insurgents.
Marianne, Dorothée's younger sister (Katia Miran), is also not insensitive to his charisma, but wishes to return to Paris and dreams of a classic marriage.
Jean-Marie Rouart tells a romantic adventure against the backdrop of the Indochina war.
With Lucie Muratet, Géraud Bénech stages a sentimental crossover in which the opium fumes allow the protagonists to forget their disillusionments.
They can't help but still hope despite an uncertain future.
What unites them or, on the contrary, separates them?
Their secrets are revealed.
Why didn't Dorothée come to the meeting arranged by Bobby at the Bar de l'Oriental, in Saigon, five years ago?
Are there any spies among his servants?
Who is the commissioner (Pascal Parmentier) actively looking for?
The character is reminiscent of Peter Ustinov in
Death on the Nile.
Géraud Bénech follows the talented actors as closely as possible, without superfluous effects in the last tremors of a bygone world.
An intense spectacle.
At the Théâtre Montparnasse (Paris 14th), until April 28. Such. : 01
43
22
77
74 or
theatremontparnasse.com
The Game of Love and Chance:
very carnal conversation
Lucile Jehel and Adib Cheikhi in “The Game of Love and Chance”.
MATHILDE_KUHN
In the Red Room of the Théâtre du Lucernaire, young girls and boys make up the majority of the audience.
Everyone looks so happy that the show already seems to be in the room before an usher asks to check if all cell phones, the only motto of the evening, are turned off.
But on stage, two actors are already hard at work.
They are Mr. Orgon (Matthieu Gambier) and his son Mario (Jérémie Guilain).
The latter, bare-chested under a long black fur coat, hair disheveled, eyes rimmed with kohl and fingers curled, staggers up and down with a bottle in his hand.
The decor would be a sort of tavern.
A bar, a coin-operated jukebox, an old fridge, a wooden pallet as a sofa, folding camping chairs, cushions as if thrown unexpectedly on the floor and, hanging, a disco ball and fairy lights .
This bric-a-brac replaced Sèvres porcelain.
Suddenly we hear a baroque concerto: the game of love and chance can begin.
Enter Orgon's daughter, Silvia (Lucile Jehel dressed in a gray suit) and Lisette (Justine Teulié), her maid dressed in work overalls.
She has a lovely funny face, Lisette.
It looks like it came out of a comic book.
Round face, mischievous close-set rolling eyes.
Let's get into the relentless mechanics of the simple plot: Orgon would like to see his daughter marry Dorante (Adib Cheikhi), son of an old friend.
The beautiful brunette Silvia shows little enthusiasm, so why wouldn't she take Lisette's place to examine her suitor while Lisette plays the role of his mistress?
The father acquiesces all the more since Dorante had the same idea.
Pretending to be his valet Harlequin (Dennis Mader) renamed for the occasion “Bourguignon” who will pass himself off as his master.
When Harlequin arrives, the spectators rub their eyes.
Slicked back hair with quiff, red jacket and leather pants, he rocks.
Immediately, he falls under the spell of Lisette who has swapped her overalls for a wedding dress.
Lisette, who becomes Silvia, soon succumbs to the strange charm of Harlequin, whom she mistakes for Dorante.
For their part, Silvia (who has put on Lisette's overalls) simpers at the charm of the real Dorante disguised as a valet (cap, suspenders, etc.).
It all goes by at full speed, backfires, the dialogues are extremely effective.
“
Marivaux is the irruption of salon conversation on the Italian theater stage
,” said Jean d’Ormesson.
There is no aging in these words which flow like the river.
The actresses and actors (all members of the L’Émeute collective) admirably understood that this conversation piece was also a highly carnal theater.
They do not lack freedom and energy, sometimes daring to sing a song.
For an hour and a half, hearts and bodies are put to the test for our greatest pleasure.
Written in 1730, the ballistics of The
Game of Love and Chance
, based on the inversion of social statuses, touches perfection.
Excluded from this love is everything that is perceived as a stupid mentality.
For that alone, rush to Lucernaire, you will not be disappointed with this expressive-contemporary version.
At Lucernaire (Paris 6th), until March 24. Such. : 01
45
44
57
34.
www.lucernaire.fr
Freud and the maid:
misunderstanding and mystery
Nassima Benchicou and François Berléand in “Freud and the Chambermaid”.
Fabienne Rappeneau
A hotel room in Rome in 1923. Lying on the bed, Sigmund Freud (François Berléand, beard necklace), 67 years old, has a coughing fit.
He swallows a tablet, then asks reception not to wake him up until 11 a.m., noon.
Last night.
The day comes.
A young woman, Marie (Nassima Benchicou) enters without making any noise.
She hesitates and smiles when she sees the psychoanalyst sleeping.
Then, without taking gloves, open the curtains wide.
Freud is startled.
Annoyed.
Marie claims she got into the wrong room.
Growing anger gives way to curiosity.
The man
–
the public too
–
is intrigued.
Marie seems to know the customer.
His mother told him about “Mr Freud”.
She believes that the psychoanalyst is a hypnotist in a circus.
Alain Sachs took on Leonardo de la Fuente's play with youthful enthusiasm.
The Argentine author advances his pawns in a precise text.
In tune, the director skillfully maintains the qui pro quo and the mystery.
The two personalities present will see their roles reversed.
Freud encourages Marie to confide.
And takes his turn on the “couch”.
Through this closed door, Leonardo de la Fuente benevolently knocks the neurologist off his pedestal.
Freud is a man like any other, vulnerable and lost, who must face life, despite his losses.
He thus becomes closer to Marie who, despite her young age, has already had her share of suffering.
She touches him with her energy and good humor.
But if this can be based on his faith, Freud does not believe in God.
The play talks about a busy existence, death, the unconscious and what we are able to bear.
The sounds of the street enter the room unexpectedly, as if life were returning to normal.
In the shoes of Sherlock Holmes, the spectator participates in this jubilant face-to-face.
He is responsible for spotting the clues that will lead him to the solution.
Fortunately, Leonardo de la Fuente does not forget to add a good dose of humor.
In a warm decor by Catherine Bluwal and pretty lighting by Laurent Béal, François Berléand and Nassima Benchicou form a convincing – except when it comes to sexuality – and endearing duo.
Everyone will emerge transformed from this verbal joust.
The strongest is not who you think.
After
By the End of the Nose,
by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière (2022), and
La Note,
by Audrey Schebat (soon on tour), the actor takes on the costume of a shrink for the third time.
He is more inward than his partner, whose role is to shake Freud off his hinges.
Determined, Nassima Benchicou admirably stands up to François Berléand.
At the Théâtre Montparnasse (Paris 14th), until April 7. Such. : 01
43
22
77
74.