Writing for theater has always seemed to me to be the most concrete way of staying close to what surrounds us and of remaining close to others, permeable to the world, despite isolation. Writing supposes a necessary solitude. It allows us to step away from the subject, to slow down to find the right words, to protect ourselves because we are exposed, on edge. The FAB Community is a window on contemporary writing and on what European theater has to say. For me, being part of the FAB Community is an opportunity to share an artistic and human experience through training programs, seminars, and round tables. It is a space to exchange with other authors on common topics, to meet physically, but also to help each other by learning more about the various European devices showcasing contemporary writing or translation.
Constance de Saint Remy
Constance de Saint Remy is a playwright, dramaturge and stage director. After her studies at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle, she joined the 6th school year of the Ecole du Nord, under the supervision of Christophe Rauck. She graduated in 2021. Her play M. in China / Made in Marilyn was staged by Mikaël Serre at the Theatre du Nord. She is one of the laureates of the Premisses call for projects 2021. Her play for children, D’où vient le nom des roses (From where the rose names come from) was published in April 2022 by the Ecole des Loisirs. As a dramaturge, she is working with Timothée Lerolle on a stage adaptation of Lolita, and with Guillaume Vincent on his last show : Vertige (2001-2021). She is also staging her last play, Lettre à une deuxième mère (Letter to a second mother), exploring Simone de Beauvoir’s legacy. The show will be put on in March 2023 at the Théâtre de l’Athénée.
Letter to a second mother
In an old jazzy bar, at closing time, an actress who works there as a waitress wants to write to Simone de Beauvoir. She would like to learn how to reconcile her feminist convictions with her daily life as a woman, realizing that faced with this intimate tension, this inner conflict, she feels compelled to make compromises. From this letter without hope of a reply, a fantastic dialogue will ultimately emerge, with a legacy, a connection between a coming-of-age story and self-construction.
“Tell me, Simone, how does one cease to be an object? How do we reclaim our bodies when it is so tempting to expose ourselves on social media, so difficult to displease, when loneliness weighs so heavily or when our clothes are tailored for mannequins in shop windows without faces? Why do the photos at the cafés mostly show you surrounded by men? Did you prefer their company? Did they often let you speak? How did you assert yourself? Did you deepen your voice to make it heard better? Did you wait for them to finish speaking before adding your own words? Did you feel the need to prove anything? Were you masculine? How did you manage with Sartre?”
Reincarnated in a male body, that of the bar’s owner who has just had an accident, Simone de Beauvoir will visit the Actress to attempt to answer her questions. But as the conversation goes by, it becomes apparent that each has as much to learn as the other. The Actress will not be the only one to be transformed from this encounter.
Made in Marilyn
2014, Republic of the Tropics. A gigantic statue of Marilyn Monroe being dumped at the landfill triggers the recollection of a disappearance that some seek to forget, while others try to explain. This disappearance took place in 1999: it is the one of An the Girl. She was 14 years old. She was dating Willy, a boy her age. She imagined herself going to the United States to live the same destiny as her idol, Marilyn Monroe. The year of her disappearance, the brother, An the Boy, is born. The Father and The Mother have always kept the existence of his sister hidden from him. At 14 years old, he will also discover Marilyn Monroe. Three periods intertwine: 2014, 1999, and 1962, the year Marilyn Monroe commits suicide. Marilyn Monroe symbolizes both shattered ambitions and Western influences: the American Way of Life, capitalism as the dominant economic model, beauty standards, Western values… And finding Marilyn Monroe at the landfill is another symbol: the one of a fall, a decline, a desecration, or the announcement of a collapse. Can globalization still be understood as a Westernization of the world? The play questions the myths that construct us in the face of the dreams that destroy us. It tells a family tragedy, a story of ghosts and impossible mourning.
From where the roses name comes from
In a marvelous and well-organized country, where everyone has a precise place, lies the Garden Tower, a tall and mysterious tower guarded by a labyrinth at its entrance. Every year, a grand competition is organized, and the winner will have the honor of giving their name to a flower. They just need to find the entrance to the Garden Tower and thus cross the labyrinth. For as long as anyone can remember, it has always been the florists from the Rose Garden who win. This year, Jade has a real chance. But then Adonis, a simple lumberjack, claims that he also wants to participate in the competition. “Impossible for a lumberjack!” Jade and the Master Florist tell him. “We shall see,” Adonis replies.
Published by “École des Loisirs,” this play is intended for young audiences.
New Voices
October 9, 2023
June 25, 2023
