Rare phenomenon in current French dramatic art, the theatre of Remi De Vos, dealing with social and political reality, carefully examines humour, comic, and absurdity. Comic is very linked with his writing. To him, “comic is a way to get rid of what is not funny”.
His incisive and forceful writing, gets straight to the point, seizes sensitive topics, taboos, tackles clichés, common ideas, politically correct.
The writing of Remi talks about the death, the couple, the difficulty to communicate, and the power. The violence of his writing is very linked to his humour that seeks to distance the hardness of human relations. Concerning Remi De Vos, there is a close relationship between misfortune and funny, between tragedy and comedy.
Rémi De Vos was born in 1963 in Dunkerque. He moved to Paris and takes theatre courses still living with odd jobs: ambulance man, night watchman, worker in metallurgy, removal man. Despite good times, he used to do absolutely nothing at all. He started then to write. He wrote his first play, Débrayage, that he directed himself at CDDB, Théâtre de Lorient in march 96. He is author of about fifteen plays edited by Actes Sud-Papiers and played regularly in France and abroad. His plays are translated in English, German, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, Finnish, Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish, Romanian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Japanese.
He is also teacher at Ensatt, in Lyon.
Theatre works
1994 / Débrayage; first staged : 1996, CDDB -CDN, théâtre de Lorient
1996 / Pleine lune.
1997 / André le magnifique; Molière du meilleur auteur, du meilleur spectacle de création, de la meilleure pièce comique, de la révélation masculine et féminine, 1998.
1998 / Projection Privée et Conviction intime.
2000 / Projection privée et Conviction intime; first staged: CDN – Nord-Pas-de-Calais
2001 / La Camoufle; first staged: 2001
2002 / Jusqu’à ce que la mort nous sépare.
2003 / Laisse-moi te dire une chose.
2004 / Occident et Ma petite jeune fille.
2005 / Ma petite jeune fille, first staged: 2005
2005 / Laisse-moi te dire une chose, première création 2005
2005 / Alpenstock.
2006 / Occident; first staged: 2006
2006 / Jusqu’à ce que la mort nous sépare; first staged: 2006 ; Prix Diane et Lucien Barrière
2008 / Beyrouth Hotel, Intendance – saison 1; first staged: 2008, Studio des Champs-Elysées
2007 / Le Ravissement d’Adèle; first staged: 2008, Bussang
2008 / Alpenstock; first staged: 2009, théâtre de Vanves
2009 / Sextett.
2009 / Intérimaire.
2009 / Débrayage (4 extraits et un inédit); first staged: CDN de Montluçon
2009 / En difficulté.
2010 / Cassé; first staged: 2012, au TGP – CDN de Saint Denis
2010 / Botala Mindele.
2012 / Trois ruptures.
2012 / Le licenciement.
Trois Ruptures
Three situations that shake some basic issues of our societies are dealt with in the play : male domination, the place of women in society, homosexuality, the emergence of children’s omnipotence.
Which character will leave the other in the end is also one of the issues at play, as well as trying to understand what bonds link them to one another.
The three comic and tragic stories of a man, a woman, a couple thus illustrate the theme of breaking up at different levels, man/woman, parents/children, individual/society.
– Extracts from Trois Ruptures –
First passage: a woman is leaving her man-friend after preparing a delicious meal for him. She can’t stand his bitch anymore. As a revenge, the man compels her to eat the dog’s food.
The man: Right now I am experiencing a feeling of total satisfaction
The woman: Thanks to the meal?
The man: Thanks to the meal you have made me, yes
The woman: That’s good
The man: What a feast
The woman: I’m leaving you
He is watching her.
The man: Where are you going?
The woman: I mean, I am really leaving you
The man: Sorry?
The woman: I am leaving you for good
The man: Joke?
The woman: No
The man: No joke?
The woman: No
He is watching her.
The man: I don’t understand
The woman: Easy to understand
The man: You are leaving me?
The woman: That’s right
He is watching her.
The man: Joke?
The woman: Still no joke
The man: No joke?
The woman: No
The man: You want to leave me?
The woman: That’s done, I am leaving you
The man: Now?
The woman: Yes
The man: For dessert?
The woman: You’ll have coffee by yourself
He is watching her.
(His bitch, three breakups)
Second passage: a man is confessing to his wife that he is having an affair with a fireman he met at the gym. The woman wants to leave him, the man ties her up and compels her to call the fireman.
The woman: He is your first fireman?
The man: Who cares if he is a fireman or what
She is watching him.
The woman: But what happened?
The man: I don’t know
The woman: He hit on you in the showers?
The man: He didn’t hit on me
The woman: No?
The man: I hit on him
A pause.
The woman: Are you telling me that you’ve suddenly become a fag?
The man: I don’t know what this word means
The woman: A fag is a man who wants men
The man: I don’t want men
The woman: That’s a relief for one minute I believed you’d become a fag
The man: I want him though
She is watching him.
The woman: Well then that means you are a bit of a fag
The man: If you want
The woman: There you are
The man: I am not thinking in those terms
The woman: I can tell you it has something to do with it
The man: It is the first time for him too
A pause.
The woman: Great
(Fireman, three breakups)
Third passage: A couple on the verge of breaking down is finally breaking up after contemplating abandoning their tyrannical child.
The man: Hey ho
The woman: What?
The man: Stop it now
The woman: What?
The man: What’s that?
The woman: What’s wrong with you?
The man: Gimme a break
The woman: What?
The man: I can look at you or what?
The woman: Stop it now
The man: What stop it now?
The woman: Drop it now
The man: What what what
The woman: Just drop it now
The man: You’re talking to me?
The woman: What? What the ? Who the?
The man: You’re talking to
The woman: Not so loud
The man: Not so loud what?
The woman: Don’t talk so loud
The man: I can’t look at you?
The woman: Yes you can
The man: Don’t talk to me like that
The woman: Now what
The man: I can look at you
The woman: Yes you can
The man: Is not here, he is
The woman: ok ok
The man: So?
The woman: I was only thinking of you
The man: what of me?
The woman: Not so loud
The man: Not so loud what?
The woman: Don’t talk so loud
The man: You’re talking to me?
The woman: Don’t talk so loud that’s all
The man: You’re talking to me?
The woman: You can talk but not so loud
The man: You all right?
The woman: All right but not so loud
(A child, three breakups)
