Our review of the play  Our life in art : journey through the intimacy of a troupe

Warning of fresh wind at the Cartoucherie de Vincennes in particular and in the hinterland of the theater in general. Richard Nelson directs his play, Our Life in Art, and it is simply magnificent. Run headlong to the Théâtre du Soleil, you will not be disappointed by the crossing in the intimacy of a troupe. Not just any: that of Ariane Mnouchkine reenacting that of Constantin Stanislavski during a tour of the United States in 1923.

We are in Chicago in a guesthouse. Taking advantage of a day off, around ten actors celebrate the 25th anniversary of the famous Moscow Art Theater - viewed with a negative eye by the Soviet authorities who consider that Chekhov is a bourgeois author. You will spend more than two hours in their company as if you were not just spectators but privileged guests. The room has been set up as a bifrontal system. In the center of what will be the play area, a table on which chairs are placed upside down. Soon the actors will enter. As if they were at home, they will put the furniture in order.

For his first production in France - and with French actors -, Richard Nelson did not bother with supertralalas. The actors, all exemplary, sit around the table. In order of appearance: the former director of the Moscow Art Theater exiled in the United States, Richard (Arman Saribekyan), Vassia (Duccio Bellugi-Vannuccini), Vania (Georges Bigot), Constantin Stanislavsky known as Kostia (Maurice Durozier ), Chekhov's widow, Olga Knipper (Hélène Cinque), Ninotchka (Nirupama Nityanandan), Lev (Agustin Letelier), Petia (Tomaz Nogueira) then Varia (Shaghayegh Beheshti), Lydia (Clémence Fougea) and finally Masha (Judit Jancso) .

The play takes place on a Sunday which extends from 3 a.m. to midnight. During the preparation and during lunch, the actors talk about things in life as it goes or not, about small events which have much more importance than the big ones, about love, art and its concrete relationship to politics. We talk about it naturally and it’s wonderful.

Richard Nelson seeks to glorify the ordinary man and he scrupulously finds the right words and gestures that celebrate him. We find ourselves touching the sublime in this most mundane everyday life. These Russian actresses and comedians who emigrated during an American tour do not completely understand the codes of this new world, its overwhelming financial system, etc. Some feared that their main audience – exiled White Russians – would harm them on the side of the fledgling Soviet Union. Others wonder if they are not going to stay permanently in Uncle Sam's country. Behind the scenes, the discreet shadow of Chekhov lurks. His generosity and his characters hover in this show where theater meets life unless it is the other way around.

As with the author of La Cerisaie, the plot matters little. The conflicts are watercolored. You have to look at this piece like you look at a painting. Every detail becomes, around the table where we drink tea, wine or vodka, universal; each character is a protoplasm and all these dazzling actors have kindness in their eyes. Their mood is sometimes dark, offended, angry, often jovial. The viewer sees the leaves of this troupe's tree of life grow live. In the end, these beautiful people, tenderly tipsy, act kapustnik. Understand that the actors perform little sketches together where they make fun of each other. And sing. These people profess to play as others profess a faith. “ Holy Russia is vast, but the sun shines everywhere,” says the proverb.

Our life in art, at the Théâtre du Soleil (Paris 12th), until March 3, 2024. Tel. : 01 43 74 24 08.