Whether by coincidence of the calendar or themes, I recently went to see two plays related to the Jewish community. One of the plays was written by a Jewish author, Irène Némirovski, who died in Auschwitz, and the other narrates the final hours of an elderly Jewish woman who will perish on the train leading her to the same death camp.
The Théâtre de la Huchette is tucked away on the street of the same name in the middle of tourist restaurants in the Saint Michel district. This theater is famous in Paris because it has been running the two Eugène Ionesco plays continuously for 50 years: The Bald Soprano and The Lesson.
But that evening, it wasn’t to see Ionesco that I went to the Théâtre de la Huchette, but to discover Le Bal by Irène Némirovski, adapted and directed by Virginie Lemoine.
For four years, Virginie Lemoine worked on this project based on Irène Némirovski’s novel.
Le Bal tells the story of Antoinette Kampf, whose parents are more concerned with their new social status than with their daughter.
Monsieur and Madame Kampf, recently wealthy, decide to solidify their meteoric rise by inviting all of Paris to a grand ball. Not invited to the ball, Antoinette, their 14-year-old daughter, finds the means to take revenge, triggering a family drama that will reveal the true face of everyone.
I must admit that this play is a little gem of writing and that the actors serve it masterfully. We laugh at their misfortunes, but we are also outraged by their reactions. The words are incisive, but they relate with accuracy the pains of a child unloved by her parents.
Little bonus: Something very appreciable, at the end of the play, Virginie Lemoine herself, or one of the actors in the play, comes to tell the audience about the life of Irène Némirovski and the genesis of the adaptation of this work onto the stage of the Théâtre de la Huchette.
Le Bal by Irène Némirovski With Lucie Barret, Brigitte Faure, Serge Noël, Françoise Miquelis and Michel Tavernier Monday at 7:00 PM, except Monday, March 18, 2013 (no show) Flat rate: 25 euros Youth under 26: 10 euros Students: 16 euros Group: 20 euros Théâtre de la Huchette 23 rue de la Huchette 75005 Paris
Paris, December 12, 1942. Ita L. née Goldfeld has one hour to choose: flee or wait… From Odessa to the rue du Petit Musc, she has already seen so much. “We are safe in France,” Salomon used to say… Based on a true story, this play takes us on the journey of a lifetime with love, the strength to resist misfortune, and trust in the future as baggage. Will Ita, an ordinary woman, continue on her path? One hour, just one hour, to decide…
Hélène Vincent, César winner for Best Supporting Actress for Life is a Long Quiet River in 1989, keeps us in suspense during this hour of hesitation, dreams, joy, and sadness. It took a great actress to make us enter the thoughts of this woman at the gates of death.
Ita L. née Goldfeld, a play by Eric Zanettacci Directed by Julie Lopes Curval With Hélène Vincent Starting from 5/02/2013 60 special performances / from Tuesday to Saturday at 7 PM and Sunday at 3 PM Tickets 25 € Théâtre du Petit Saint-Martin 17 rue René Boulanger 75010 Paris
