Comedies, thrillers, love stories, solo performances, and dramas await you at the 35th edition of the Molières Night, airing on France 2 on May 6 at 9 p.m. To help you choose your next theater evening, our editorial team has selected its top 3 favorite plays still on stage: "Dead Poets Society", "C’est pas facile d’être heureux quand on va mal", and "Pauvre Bitos. Le dîner de têtes" must-book now!
Pauvre Bitos. Le dîner de têtes
Nominations: Best Private Theater Actor for Maxime d’Aboville
Synopsis: Once upon a time, "dinner of heads" was in vogue. Understand, a dinner of fools. In 1955, several friends from high society gather for one of these evenings at one of their homes. The "head" they will joyfully target throughout the play is none other than André Bitos, an incorruptible and virtuous magistrate whom they all despise. As each must portray a character from the French Revolution, Bitos is assigned the role of Robespierre, both a heroic figure of the Revolution and a controversial face of the Terror. Thinking he's in for a pleasant evening, the man who was a resistance hero during the war falls into a historical trap from which no one will emerge unscathed. Beware of severed heads!
Why We Loved It: It took a lot of nerve to criticize the post-war purge only nine years after Liberation. Jean Anouilh uses "Pauvre Bitos. Le dîner de têtes" to show that tyranny still threatens societies by paralleling two grim periods in French history: the Reign of Terror and the post-war purge. The dual character of Bitos-Robespierre, brilliantly portrayed by Maxime d’Aboville in this new revival, is just one example of a man who initially worked for the good of humanity before succumbing to extremism due to hubris and the thirst for power. A biting comedy that doesn't claim to be moralistic, "Pauvre Bitos" makes us laugh bitterly at the pettiness of the bourgeois who harass Bitos, as well as his attempts to escape. Exhilarating!
© Bernard Richebé
Dead Poets Society
Nominations: Best Private Theater Show, Best Private Theater Director for Olivier Solivérès, Best Private Theater Actor for Stéphane Freiss, Male Revelations for Ethan Oliel and Audran Cattin, and Best Visual and Sound Creation.
Synopsis: Set in 1950s Vermont, USA, the Welton Academy boys' boarding school is renowned for both its academic excellence and its austerity and puritanism. The arrival of a new literature teacher, John Keating, and his unconventional methods, will change things for the students, who learn to think for themselves. A true story of transmission as John Keating shares his passion with the younger ones who understand the importance of being passionate and "seizing the day" according to Horace's doctrine.
Why We Loved It: Adapted from Peter Weir's film, the play successfully captures the ingredients that made "Dead Poets Society" a huge success in cinema. Stéphane Freiss is perfectly cast as John Keating. As for the other actors who complete the cast, most of them newcomers, they are impressive and full of energy: we laugh, shiver, and cry with them. Whether or not you've seen the film, you rediscover the characters like old friends, akin to Maurice Jarre's music and the cult dialogues that celebrate life. Carpe diem!
"Dead Poets Society" runs until May 26 at Théâtre Antoine, 14 boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris 10th.
© Louis Josse Jean Marc Dumontet production
C’est pas facile d’être heureux quand on va mal
Nominations: Best Comedy and Best Living Francophone Author for Rudy Milstein
Synopsis: These five Parisians have only one goal: to find happiness. Not easy for Nora and Jonathan after eight years of living together, especially when one has become bitter and the other is a hypochondriac obsessed with the Holocaust. Not easy either for Maxime, who lets himself be walked all over by his one-night stands. As for Timothée, he's a narcissistic pervert who thinks he's happy while hiding behind his mask of emotionless man. And Jeanne... She knows she's unhappy, but she owns it! Through their trials, these friends meet, confide in each other, sleep together, argue. But they also toughen up, reunite, and love each other.
Why We Loved It: It's a Parisian and Ashkenazi-flavored Love Actually with a good dose of black humor and irony that mocks modern relationships. With “C’est pas facile d’être heureux quand on va mal”, Rudy Milstein manages to make us laugh to tears about borderline topics... and it feels good! Illness, death, the Holocaust, or even infidelities: everything becomes subject to laughter with these borderline characters. In the cast: Rudy Milstein, Nicolas Lumbreras, Erwan Téréné, Zoé Bruneau, and Baya Rehaz form a hilarious group of friends!
Discover also Conseil de famille, Amanda Sthers' hilarious comedy and where to dine before or after a show in Paris.
