The Lyon company Premier rôle had the good idea to focus on the youngest daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, unjustly overshadowed for having been the only one in her family not to have won a Nobel Prize and not to have devoted her life to science. It is 1934. Eve visits her mother to tell her the news of her upcoming concert as a pianist. She has brought champagne, flowers and chocolates that Marie does not appreciate, treating them as trivialities.
From the outset, we are struck by the contrast between the mother and the daughter, played with accuracy and talent respectively by Chantal Vidal Bouillet and Héléna Vautrin. Dressed in black, Mary maintains a reserved demeanor and an impassive countenance while Eve, elegantly dressed, displays youthful cheerfulness. Faced with her mother’s distant attitude, Eve remains caring and clearly eager to share her enthusiasm with her. The dialogue will become more and more tense when Eve talks about her meeting with a man she admires and with whom she fell in love. Marie then reproaches him for this new affair with an older, married man, she urges him to break with worldliness and sterile relationships to prepare for a fulfilling emotional life and choose a profession capable of giving him true autonomy, particularly economically.
But little by little the exchange between this mother and this daughter evolves towards revelations and confidences which will bring them closer together. We will then understand that both belong to the same line of women who are committed, whatever the cost, to fully assuming their freedom on both a professional and personal level. Marie, who will soon die, proved it. Eve will confirm this later, notably as a brilliant woman of letters and as a heroine involved in the Resistance.
This creation, staged in a relevant way by Juliette Juniaux, is very interesting. It sheds light on a rather dark side of the life of an illustrious woman, Marie Curie, and introduces us to her daughter, who deserves to be known and recognized.
At La Luna, rue Séverine, from June 29 to July 21 (breaks on July 4, 11 and 18).
Prices: €23 / €15 (subscriber or reduced) / €8 (children) – Reservations: 04 12 29 01 24. Online ticketing.
Angela Luccioni
