"There are those who think that simplicity is a mark of lack of invention. They do not imagine that invention consists in making something out of nothing." So wrote Racine in his second preface to Bérénice. This "nothing" has for three centuries fascinated readers and audiences and inspired a wide range of interpretation. Is it just a classic love story, this tale of Bérénice, queen of Judea, forced to leave emperor Titus because the law of Rome forbids the marriage of its rulers with a foreigner ? Or is it a tragedy with political overtones ? Or a song that is so pure that the conflict dissolves behind the lament of one of the most beautiful arias ever written by a dramatic poet ? A lesson in life ? An adieu at the gates of death ? How infinite is that "nothing" ! For Lambert Wilson, the work reveals sentiments that are less ideal than the classical commentaries would have. He wants to underline an idea of Norman Mailer's, "Since I have known Kennedy, I know that a man who attains power becomes a machine."
Distribution
stage direction Lambert Wilson
Set : Stéphane Plassier
Costumes : Christian Lacroix
Lighting : Françoise Michel
Music : Jean-Marie Wilson
Make-up : Madeleine Roland
Assistant director : Cécile Guillemot
Paulin : Michel Baumann
Phénice : Charlotte Clamens
Arsace : Fabrice Michel
Rutile : Bernard Musson
garde de Titus : Gil Robert
Titus : Didier Sandre
Bérénice : Kristin Scott Thomas
Antiochus : Lambert Wilson
Production
remerciements à Jean-Pierre Ruel, Florence Quéré, Olivier Gluzman, Micheline Rozan et Michel Gastaud
production : Théâtre du Gymnase-Marseille
en coproduction avec : le Théâtre national de Chaillot, Les Célestins-Théâtre de Lyon, les Estivales de Perpignan, Festival d'Avignon, La Filature-Mulhouse, le Centre culturel Odyssud-Blagnac, le Théâtre André Malraux-Rueil Malmaison, la Maison de la Culture de Nevers et de la Nièvre, La Coursive-scène nationale de La Rochelle, la Maison des Arts de Créteil, Les Théâtres de Sète-scène nationale
et en association avec : les Visiteurs du Soir