Phèdre!

REVISITED CLASSIC

This is indeed Racine’s Phèdre. It isn’t the tragedy in alexandrines—a masterpiece of classical French theatre— but rather a contemporary comedy inspired by it, featuring a single character—a somewhat naive lecturer driven by a fervent passion for the play in question. The exclamation mark added to the title was called the “point of admiration” in Racine’s time. It expresses in this case all that experienced by the protagonist.

With only a carpet and a table as a backdrop, our lecturer presents us, book in hand, Racine’s text. He undertakes to tell us, act by act, the story of the play; he unravels the wonders of the alexandrine, evoking Greek mythology through the genealogy of the characters. And little by little, carried away by his enthusiasm, he begins to interpret each role, letting the beauty of the text and the complicit pleasure of acting flow through him.

A humorous, interactive monologue and an exquisitely playful history lesson, François Gremaud’s score uses numerous references to popular culture, song lyrics, jokes, puns and comical references to other well-known works. Romain Daroles proves to be a brilliant storyteller and actor, delivering a dazzling, generous performance, which is both comical and subtle. Point of admiration to the ensemble!