2023-10-13 07:00:01
Sophie Marceau and François Berléand play a couple who have become entangled in the monotony of everyday life. A subtle tragicomedy at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens until December 31.
Spectators jump on the red seats of the legendary Bouffes Parisiens theater inaugurated in 1855. The excitement is rare for a play. It must be said that Sophie Marceau and François Berléand on a set is the ultimate.
Note by Audrey Schebat. After the three shots, the curtain rises revealing François Berléand writing a note, to the applause of the audience. He climbs onto a piano stool and places a rope hanging from a beam above his head around his neck. The phone rings, then the door opens revealing Sophie Marceau in a black tuxedo, luggage in hand.
Natural comedy
The actress of The Boom, LOL et Everything went well, is rare in the theater. This is only his fourth piece in his 40-year career after Eurydice by Jean Anouilh, directed by Georges Wilson in 1991. She reunites with the César-winning actor François Berléand, a regular on the stage. One plays Maud, a world-renowned pianist, the other Julien, a psychoanalyst who is overly solicited by his desperate clientele. After surprising her husband on the verge of committing suicide, Maud is furious, distraught by this incomprehensible decision. “My heart is beating at 200, can we figure out why!?”. How to explain suicide? “Give me the note, the one you left before you said goodbye”, says Maud to Julien after freeing him from his rope. “I didn’t write any“, he responds timidly among the balled up sheets of paper.
Sophie Marceau is spicy, funny with a skillfully played naturalness. Like François Berléand, she does not force the point. The comedy is so fluid that we believe we are witnessing a couple scene that we should never have seen, that we would have been surprised by the half-open door. No question relating to suicide is left aside. What do you leave behind other than a note? Does such an explanation fit on a piece of paper? Can you leave the world without leaving a note?
Master Duo
“It’s disgusting. It’s like having a good meal in a restaurant and leaving without paying the bill.”, asserts Sophie Marceau. In this boulevard theater, as described by Audrey Schebat, the author and director of the show, the characters seek meaning in their existence. Within this opulent marital closed space, Maud and Julien can no longer escape their problems. Finally, they must ask themselves questions that we gloss over when we are busy with work, fatigue and family obligations.
“Do you think we still love each other?“, asks Sophie Marceau of her partner. For her winning return to the stage, the actress is surprisingly simple and deeply honest. And François Berléand has an undeniable presence. The duo is a success, authentic and complicit .”With them nothing is pretended, nothing is artificial. They have in common a power of empathy which they offer to the characters and which they also arouse in the spectator”, specifies Audrey Schebat. A show of rare accuracy which holds the spectator from start to finish.
“Note”written and directed by Audrey Schebat
Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens
Until December 31, 2023
Sophie Marceau and François Berléand
Duration: 1h35
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