At 48, Bérénice Béjo no longer has anything to prove to anyone, her career speaks for her. César for best actress in 2012 for The Artistfemale actor prize for The Past at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, star of Under the Seinethe global hit of Netflix or OSS 117 with Jean Dujardin. We will have understood that the actress born in Buenos Aires in Argentina is a woman of challenges. The latest: only one on stage.
Since October 11, Bérénice Béjo has given life to the multi-award winning story of Maria Larrea, People from Bilbao are born wherever they want (France Télévisions Novel Prize 2023, Inrockuptibles First Novel Prize 2022, Audiolib Prize Selection 2024). For the general performance of the play at Studio Marigny, a magnificent cultural setting located at the corner of avenue des Champs-Élysées and avenue de Marigny, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, excitement and stress were at their peak. attic. “For me, it’s really a leap into the void“, said Bérénice Béjo a few weeks ago, adding that this performance would be intense. And it is.
Bérénice Béjo is not a single character but all the characters
Seated a few chairs from us at the back of the room, Johanna Boyé, to whom we owe the production of this version of People of Bilbao are born wherever they want (production Fimalac), was able to count on the support of many loved ones for this great first. And she wasn’t the only one. Bérénice Béjo was supported by her husband, the director Michel Hazanavicius, who sat discreetly in the middle of the room.
A little after 7 p.m., Bérénice Béjo arrived on stage, pregnant and saying she was fighting with an octopus. This is Dolorès, the grandmother of Maria, the central character played by Bérénice Béjo, but she is not the only one, far from it. For 1h10, the actress plays not one, not two but all the characters! A true feat achieved with breathtaking success.
Investigation and quest for identity in Les people from Bilbao are born where they wantt
Immersed in a minimalist decor, Bérénice Béjo connects moments of emotion which intertwine with more caustic parentheses and dynamic parentheses. It realistically tells the story of Maria, daughter of Spanish emigrants who fled Francoism to live their dream of freedom in the land of Camembert. In Paris, his mother, with the physique of a movie star, is a cleaning lady and his father, always with a rouge ball in his hand, is the caretaker of the Théâtre de la Michodière. All three lived in a tiny dressing room on the top floor of the theater, which at the time specialized in Boulevard plays. The violence and immediate fantasy that emerge from this trio could have been enough to make Maria an artist. But there is something else… A film school student, she seeks in her short films to portray her origins, in vain. Until the day a card reader reveals to him that a secret hangs over his birth…
Throughout this breathtaking investigation, Bérénice Béjo attracts the spectators. The short-haired actress gives of herself so that this story pierces everyone’s heart. At the end of the general, she received a standing ovation, loud applause and bravos to reward all the work produced over the months.
And this new challenge from Bérénice Béjo is only just beginning since Lit’s gpeople from Bilbao are born where they wantt is played until November 24 at Studio Marigny. A captivating and shaking event not to be missed!
