In dressing gowns, François Berléand and Nicolas Briançon take turns passing a head while the audience settles down.
An air of cheerfulness floats at the Théâtre du Petit Montparnasse.
Dario Moreno sings
Si tu va à Rio
at the top of his lungs in the sunny light of Laurent Béal.
The curtain does not open immediately and not completely.
Placed in the center of the stage, the two actors discuss very seriously the ideal date which would allow the rooms to be filled.
At Christmas ?
During the Easter holidays?
During the “events” of March?
“There are always events in March.
»
But the ideal date does not seem to exist!
From the outset, the pleasure, the verve and the witticisms of François Berléand and Nicolas Briançon draw the spectators into Absurdy.
Resurrecting the iconic duo
In the simple and effective decor - a desk and chairs against a background of video images - by Capucine Grou-Radenez, François Berléand and Nicolas Briançon grant the wish of Nathalie Serrault, one of the two daughters of Michel Serrault, who had published with Nicolas Poiret and Sylvie Poiret a compilation of sketches born from the unbridled imagination of their illustrious fathers: Jean Poiret and Michel Serrault (
Poiret-Serrault: the sketches
, Calmann Lévy, 2021).
The two enthusiasts had met in 1952, during an audition for classical matinees at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater.
They were sitting next to each other.
Instead of saying hello, Poiret made a joke, Serrault responded straight away.
The first had discovered his Augustus.
Also read: Nicolas Poiret, in the name of the father
“Jean made me laugh. Luckily, I made him laugh too! »,
rejoiced Michel Serrault about his sidekick.
“Between Poiret and Serrault, the distribution of roles and characters was subtle.
On the cabaret stage, Poiret embodied the amiable, fine, elegant and self-confident young man, ready for any gallantry.
Serrault, for his part, perfectly personified the contradiction, that is to say a poor man, a killjoy, servile and suspicious.
Their strength lay in the simple fact that one could skilfully bite into the other's game
,” writes Jean-Jacques Jelot-Blanc in his book Jean Poiret-Michel Serrault: La Cage aux roles (Éditions Alphée, 2009).
“Annie d’Algo”
In addition to the best time to schedule a show, we rewatch the first sketch of the legendary duo created at Tabou:
The Return of Jerry Scott international star,
then
The Literary Prize
, in which Nicolas Briançon plays the role of Bernard Pivot to interview François Berléand, in the skin of a very bad writer, Stéphane Brineville.
Glasses on his nose, the actor looks like Fabrice Luchini facing his deadpan friend.
Some texts have aged, like
Finding your way in the galaxy
.
But others are still relevant today.
In
You have to make your body work to be optimistic
, Berléand and Briançon transform into junk athletes.
To stay in shape, they perform sacred exercises in front of us like smoking a cigarette or turning the pages of a book.
All while raising your elbow to sip a pint of beer!
The sketch devoted to traffic and the
“embarrassments”
of Paris made the room fold in two.
Nathalie Serrault, who directs the film, refers to the mayor of the City of Lights,
“Annie d'Algo”
.
A nod to the Olympic Games that doesn't lack spice.
Cheerful music by composer Gérard Calvi accompanies short films.
So many interludes in which we see François Berléand and Nicolas Briançon playing clowns reinforce the playground atmosphere.
“It was stronger than us, we had to make the slightest of our conversations slip.
This is how we built all our sketches
,” explained Michel Serrault.
“To make people laugh, to give happiness, to offer emotions”
, such was his ambition and that of his beloved sidekick.
On the set, happy as children, François Berléand and Nicolas Briançon in turn fulfill this mission with speed.
They do not hide the admiration they have for their predecessors, circus fans.
They also share the same bond.
Well versed in the comic register, but disciplined, they give it their all.
“Extracts of superior quality and natural production guaranteed 100% organic and made in France”
, promises the leaflet distributed at the entrance.
Promise kept.
Poiret-Serrault, extra extracts
, at the Théâtre du Petit Montparnasse (Paris 14th), until April 5.
Loc.
: 01 43 22 77 74.