Our review of the play The Rabbit Problem: hilarious!

Disclaimer: This is not a piece about or with Pierre Arditi. It is more soberly a dramatized and really funny conference on the rabbit, his life and his work. With this conference, Frédéric Ferrer (author, director and geographer) continues - after In Search of Lost Ducks, The Vikings and the Satellites, The Deterritorializations of the Vector, North Pole, Wow!, Cod - his Atlas of the the Anthropocene, that is to say its Cartography series and it is a very fascinating undertaking. Everything, everything, everything or almost, you will know everything, to the point of absurdity, about Oryctolagus cuniculus, commonly called rabbit.

On the stage, two screens, two desks, two computers and two speakers: Frédéric Ferrer himself and the impossibly deadpan Hélène Schwartz. Between them, they make quite a pair. So, like Alice from Alice in Wonderland, let yourself slide without resistance into the burrow of the formidable and mysterious creature which, we learned, does not like carrots at all and prefers cabbages .

Frédéric Ferrer begins his overview thus: “As everyone knows, rabbits pose a problem. For what ? Because it is never where you expect it and it is often where you don't expect it. it has been uncontrollable since hominids encountered it. » He escapes us. It overflows the boxes we want to fit it into.

Even more, the rabbit - which appeared more than 6 million years ago in southern Spain - divides societies. Is he good ? wicked ? useful ? harmful ? He is all of that at the same time, and the duo spares no effort to demonstrate it to us. There’s a little “Questions for a Champion” feel to this performance. Two minutes to answer thirty sometimes incongruous questions in one hour. The duo speaks quickly, very quickly. His speaking time is limited.

The questions keep coming: “The difference between a hare and a rabbit? » The hare (solitary animal) runs at 80 km/h while the rabbit (gregarious animal) tops out at 40. “ It’s still faster than Usain Bolt in the 100 m! So, let's be modest, please", says our funny geographer, who adds that the hare does not dig, unlike its false brother, king of the burrow. “ Why does the rabbit have big ears? ”, “ Why is it banned on boats? », “Why is it present on all continents and even on the Kerguelen Islands? ”, “ Why does he always wiggle his nose? »“ Why is its tail white? ", etc. Where we will have learned that this fornicator has an unusual kidney attack.

In 2.6 seconds (the record mating time), he sends 13.5 pelvic strokes, supporting video. An athlete ! As for its proliferation, it is simply Dantesque. At the end of the show, an avalanche of little stuffed bunnies falls from the hangers onto the stage. In short, if you want to know almost everything about the burrowing rabbit, run to the Théâtre du Rond-Point. Disappointing!

The Rabbit Problem, at the Théâtre du Rond-Point (Paris 8th), until January 27. Such. : 01 44 95 98 21. www.theatredurondpoint.fr