Théâtre

A powerful brake on human actions, or a dark and hidden driver for our behaviour, fear is a fine subject for the stage. We can only rejoice therefore that a creative artist of the calibre of Armel Roussel has taken this on. For twenty years now, with his company Utopia2, the director has alternated between the texts of the standard repertoire and collective creations, always with the same fervour for freshness and dramatic depth. Armel Roussel, who will also lead a workshop with Romanian actors next year in the context of Villes en Scène/Cities on stage, defines the limits of his approach to the subject with tantalising enthusiasm: “I want to explore the way the fear drives or even shapes society. Fear in all its forms, multiple and sometimes contradictory: fear of loving or of not being loved, fear of committing oneself or of recreating oneself, the fear of fighting against something, of losing a job, fear of death or fear – of life. And it is perhaps this last aspect that interests me the most. Because of the fear of not being accepted, of being marginalised, how do we  put in place those unconscious mechanisms which, finally, prevent us from being free.” The subject is inside each of us and nobody can face it without fear. But do not be afraid of La Peur: those who know Armel Roussel’s work know that they will certainly be transported in a joyous whirlwind of brilliant energy. In a stage setting which he imagined as evolving, wanting great freedom in tone and looking for the irrational aspect of his subject, Armel Roussel means to create “a show full of health in a world which is sick.” What else do we look for when we take our seat in the theatre?