in the shifting sands of “Hecuba, not Hecuba”

Everything happened quickly on May 23 in the rehearsal room of the Comédie-Française: “I would like us to play from the prologue to the very end of the text,” suggested Tiago Rodrigues to the actors, who immediately chained the scenes together at a sustained tempo. A week later and one floor higher, in the Richelieu room, the same team took the time this time to unravel the lines one by one. Now, there are a lot of lines in Hecuba, not Hecubathe first play written (and directed) by the director of the Avignon Festival for the Comédie-Française troupe.

In a prologue, fourteen scenes and an epilogue, Hecuba, not Hecuba comes and goes from the poem of Euripides to the human drama born from the pen of the Portuguese author. A crossover of ancient and contemporary writings to which the artist adds that personal touch which has become his trademark: theater within theatre. “It’s the story of an actress who plays a tragedy while she is experiencing one in her life. » Tiago Rodrigues connects the fate of Hecuba, Queen of Troy who demands justice for the murder of her son, to that of Nadia, an actress who files a complaint for mistreatment of her autistic child. The shift from one heroine to another is the nerve of a show that could well lead the audience towards a profusion of emotional peaks.

“Hecuba allows us to grasp the power of a mother’s unconditional love for her son, explains the playwright. What interests me is to find out how an actress who knows this tragedy by heart can better face the blows of fate, how theatre can help in life.” Elsa Lepoivre is both of these angry mothers, whose dignity concedes nothing to pathos. Suffice it to say that he must constantly dissociate himself without ever losing his way, even if it means bordering on a form of schizophrenia. This game of ping-pong requires concentration every second: “When I have built my journey from A to Z by marking each of its stages, then I will be able to dive into the emotion, let it surge and then contain it for the next second before, again, pushing it to the strongest” , says the actress.

Shoot de stress

At the end of May, in Paris, she still had to memorize a text delivered a few days before by the author. A late delivery, to which the French actors are not accustomed. “As I always arrive on the first day of rehearsals, I devote my weekends to learning my score,” explains Elsa Lepoivre. There is therefore no question of relaxing our attention. This light shot of stress adds spice to work. Denis Podalydès may have known everything (or almost) about theater, but he is also tame “discomfort” what generates, he says, a piece “sometimes moving”. This instability stimulates him, even if the challenge scares him : “At one point I have to pretend to read on my open palms the very technical report of complaints filed in court, this passage terrifies me.” The member follows a path parallel to that taken by Elsa Lepoivre. He carries on his shoulders the roles of Agamemnon and a prosecutor. The two lawyers that the mothers confront.

You have 55.8% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.