Alain Françon is a stage director who is curious and faithful, curious about new writers and faithful to some old masters. Since 1972, he has staged more than fifty plays by Chekhov, Ibsen, Feydeau, Vinaver, O'Neill, etc. In 1992, he directed for the first time a work of Edward Bond, La Compagnie des Hommes (In the Company of Men). It was the start of a real affinity between the famous British writer and the French stage director. Françon's determination made Bond's politically engaged theatre well-known in France, notably after Françon was appointed director of the Théâtre National de la Colline in Paris en 1997. The War Plays, Coffee, The Crime of the 21st Century and Have I None have all been staged in keeping with Bond's writing, all of them scalpel-sharp analyses of a world that is becoming dehumanised, of a world that could exist if we are not careful. With his \'gang' of regular actors, Alain Françon has made this reflection on the contemporary world \'classic', in the same way that he made the most established \'classics' by his favourite writers, contemporary. At the Avignon Festival, Alain Françon presented Je songe au vieux soleil... based on works by William Faulkner and Mes souvenirs by Herculine Barbin in 1985, A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill in 1987, Tir et Lir by Marie Redonnet in 1988, War Plays by Edward Bond in 1994 et Edward II by Christopher Marlowe in 1996.
Edward Bond was born in 1934 in Holloway, North London, into a working-class family. His first play The Pope's Wedding, was first performed in 1962 at The Royal Court Theatre and marked the start of his career as a playwright with now thirty plays to his credit. Among his plays are Saved, which created a scandal when it was first staged in 1965, the War Plays trilogy, In the Company of Men and Olly's Prison. Edward Bond is especially interested in dramas for young people, working with youngsters in workshops and writing plays specifically targeting younger audiences. He has directed some of his own plays and published his theories on drama. Considered as one of the great contemporary playwrights of the English language, he writes political theatre which seeks to highlight the contradictions of Western civilization and to warn his contemporaries of the excesses of authoritarianism which hang over them. Edward Bond's work was first performed at the Avignon Festival in 1970 when Georges Wilson directed Early Morning in the Courtyard of Honour at the Pope's Palace.
Chaise (Chair) is one of Edward Bond's three shorter plays written essentially for young people but for adults too. The play takes place in a highly repressive society, in 2077, when outside of one's own apartment every human-being is a suspect or can become one very quickly. Alice, the heroine dares to contravene the orders and inevitably faces a final confrontation. Bond takes us one step closer towards the idea of the dehumanisation of our societies. He shows a violent and tragic situation, and in so doing shows his persistence in the belief that he will trigger the spectator's conscience with matching intensity and that will lead them to do all they can to prevent a future time where what is human will be lost forever. In Chair, the slightest sentiment, the slightest show of emotion in front of one's peers is a motive for an investigation into someone who is breaking the rules. People no longer know how to kiss without biting, nor how to speak without trembling with fear.
As always in Edward Bond's plays, the style is precise. These plays run seamlessly, the machinery of their dramatic structure is carefully oiled. However, grief and anger well-up beneath the succinct dialogues while, punctuated by irrepressible bouts of laughter, Chair continues its slow road towards catastrophe. However, systematic mistrust, difficulties in sharing a rapport with others on a human basis and permanent fear cannot quash the last bit of humanity which resists.
Jean-François Perrier
“No tyranny can believe that the cowardice of its supporters is genuine. We have no alternative but to dare to be human beings”.
Distribution
texte français : Michel Vittoz
stage direction Alain Françon
avec : Stéphanie Béghain, Valérie Dréville, Pierre-Félix Gravière, Abbès Zahmani
dramaturgie : Michel Vittoz, Guillaume Lévêque
scénographie : Jacques Gabel
lumières : Joël Hourbeigt
costumes : Patrice Cauchetier
univers sonore : Gabriel Scotti
maquillages et masques : Dominique Colladant
assistant à la mise en scène : David Tuaillon
Production
Production : Théâtre National de la Colline
texte français publié : par l'Arche éditeur