Is it possible to create a point of engagement, intensity and meaning?writes Gwenaël Morin, is it possible to transform life? With Bérénice byn Racine, a show he directed in 2009 at the Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers and currently playing at the Théâtre de la Bastille, he goes right to the point of unrequited love. A punch in the heart.
© : Pierre Grosbois.
One origin. Three arrows, three characters, three directions. A trio caught in the trap of raison d’Etat. Despite their mutual love, Roman law forbids Berenice, Princess of Palestine, to marry Titus, Emperor of Rome. A few hours before their separation, Antiochus, secretly in love with Berenice, decides to reveal his feelings to her. But to no avail. In this magnificent play by Racine, where destinies weave and unweave, Gwenaël Morin succeeds in staging the heartbreak of love. No artifice. A set of odds and ends. No costumes. Precise gestures. Unadorned diction. We play, we love, we die in front of an audience that becomes judge and jury.
© : Pierre Grosbois.
The urgency of the word to be heard. The urgency of saying love before it dies. The urgency of words before they disappear. To speak to the very end of oneself. Such is Bérénice, magnificently interpreted by Barabara Jung, always just, even in anger, always loving even when betrayed. Gwenaël Morin’s staging is supported by a cast of deeply sincere actors (notably Grégoire Monsaingeon -Titus and Julian Eggerickx – Antiochus), who let their hearts speak for themselves. Racine’s verses burst with beauty and despair. And when the thread becomes too taut, at the moment when lives collapse at the feet of the origin, Ulysse Pujo, who single-handedly plays the three confidants – Arsace, Phénice and Paulin, brings a touch of lightness before the wobble. Making theater,” writes Gwenaël Morin, “is something unique in itself, where we see people transformed by what they say, and where seeing them say it gives us something about the hearts of men that we can’t see any other way. After Berenice, who hasn’t been afraid to love? A must-see.
Until November 21 at Théâtre de la Bastille.
By Odile Woesland
Bérénice after Bérénice by Racine, directed by Gwenaël Morin, with Julian Eggerickx, Barbara Jung, Grégoire Monsaingeon, Ulysse Pujo.
www.theatre-bastille.com
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