2023-10-14 15:04:06
A marriage, adulteries, stupid guests and a myriad of misunderstandings, all the ingredients of a successful vaudeville come together at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, in Paris. The adaptation of the famous comedy by Eugène Labiche An Italian straw hat by director Alain Françon is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated theatrical events of this fall… and it does not disappoint! The entrance on stage of Vincent Dedienne, radiating energy, sets the tone: there will be rhythm.
The actor plays Fadinard, a young, fickle rentier who is nevertheless on the verge of getting married. The chosen one is Hélène (Suzanne de Baecque), a young woman who is completely stupid but completely rich, the daughter of a successful nurseryman. But an unfortunate event, followed by a dozen others, undermines the happy marriage.
Find an identical straw hat from Italy
While passing through the Bois de Vincennes, Fadinard’s horse feasts on a straw hat left unattended in the branches of a tree. Upon discovering the misdeed, its owner Anaïs Beauperthuis (Marie Rémond), who was busy in the bushes with her lover Émile Tavernier (Eric Berger), a rigid and angry soldier, demands compensation. There is no way the cuckolded husband would suspect the affair if she returned home without her precious head covering.
Fadinard’s talks will remain a dead letter. To hell with marriage and the impatient wedding party on the doorstep, the impertinent young man is ordered to find a hat identical in every way and immediately, at the risk of terrible reprisals. A herculean task if ever there was one, because the hat is made from extremely rare Italian straw.
Frantic race against time
Then begins the joyful cavalcade! From boutiques to mansions, the young man travels through Paris in search of the object, his country guests hot on his heels, who understand nothing of the situation. At the head of the procession, the hilarious father-in-law Nonancourt, played by Anne Benoît, at the top of her art. The character draped in ridiculous pride advances painfully with his too-tight patent shoes, punctuating his uneasy gait with repeated laments: “Everything is broken, my son-in-law! »
The other members of the troupe are not left out, Suzanne de Baecque perfectly interprets the stupid naivety and innocence of the poor bride, writhing in her satin dress to get rid of a pin that pricks her back, Rodolphe Congé as a deaf uncle and Luc-Antoine Diquéro as a sweating deliveryman are also perfect.
The story only moves forward with great misunderstandings between Fadinard and his disoriented wedding party, who only dream of returning to their home in Charentonneau (a town which is an inexhaustible source of pride for the nurseryman). The young rentier regularly breaks the fourth wall to address his exasperations to the public, and we are delighted to see Vincent Dedienne’s unique spice and humor shine through the text.
A soundtrack by Feu! Chatterton
Frantic pace but skillfully measured, Alain Françon’s score is mastered. There is no cacophony, the paintings with magnificent decorations follow one another without ever tiring. And that, too, thanks to the music and songs composed by the pop-rock group Feu! Chatterton, who accompanies the piece. Three musicians installed on the first balcony of the theater play live, accompanied by synthesizers, an electric guitar and drums. The soundtrack makes the comedy vibrate and seems to appeal to the audience which, that evening, included many young people.
During two hours of crazy racing, the text hits the mark, making fun without restraint of all these little people of the 19th century. Ridiculous country people lost in town, ridiculous baroness who does not realize that she has let an impostor into her living room, and ridiculous Vincent Dedienne as a fickle petty bourgeois, whose fidelity promised to his wife puts a severe test on the day even the ceremony. Eugène Labiche spares no one, for our greatest pleasure.
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Alain Françon, flamboyant director
In 2016, Alain Françon won his third Molière. / PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP
January 16, 1945. Alain Françon was born in Saint-Étienne (Loire).
1971-1996. He co-founded and directed the Théâtre exploded in Annecy for eighteen years, before taking charge of the National Drama Center of Lyon, then of Savoie.
1995. Director’s first Molière for War pieces d’Edward Bond.
1996. He directed the Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris for fourteen years, and revealed the British playwright Edward Bond.
2010. He founded his own company, the Théâtre des Nuages de Neige. Second Molière for The Cherry Orchard de Tchekhov.
2016. Third Molière of the director for Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? d’Edward Albee.
Alain Françon is also the author of around a hundred plays.
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