The director freely revisits PlatonovAnton Chekhov’s first play, at the Théâtre du Rond-Point before going on tour. The human comedy in close-up.
“ Madam, we bring the flowers “warns a waiter in a black apron. In a flowing purple dress, matching heels and a seductive widow, Anna (Olivia Corsini) welcomes friends to her home, probably for the last time. Rows of glasses are laid out on large tables covered with white tablecloths and petit fours. Dolce vita” should be in full swing. Except that Anna puts on a brave face, but is ruined and desperate. Disregarding the presence of his wife Sacha (Haini Wang), a schoolteacher, Micha (Vincent Berger), Platonov, flirts with her.
But also around Sofia, her first love (Katia Ferreira), who is there that evening with Anna’s stepson Serge (Mathias Labelle), who never stops filming them. Nicole (Émilie Incerti Formentini) is waiting for her lover Maria (Lou Martin-Fernet), whom Micha will destabilize. Alcohol flows freely, cigarette smoke rises to the hangers and spirits run wild. A DJ (actor and composer Florent Dupuis) gets some 30 guests moving.
The camera isolates
After The Seagullfor his new show Sur l’autre riveCyril Teste warns that he draws his inspiration “freely” – one might add very freely – from Platonov which Anton Chekhov wrote at the age of 17-18 (his play had been rejected). In association with the MXM collective, the 49-year-old director wisely exploits the art of theater and cinema for this tightly-knit play translated by Olivier Cadiot. Not surprisingly, he has turned it into a film. (broadcast on Arte). At first, we try to follow the actors on stage, then we decide to watch them on the screens. The camera isolates them on video screens.
The truth bursts out on their faces in close-ups. “Carried away by the crowdbut alone at heart, they get lost in the meanders of their conflicting desires. Anna already knows she’ll have to leave her house, Micha promises Sofia she’ll go away with her, Maria suffers from being mistreated by her Chinese husband, and Sacha considers herself an outsider in the midst of this beautiful world. It’s all a mess! “ The evening is divine, Listen to the party ! “, says Arkadina in The Seagull. “ Yes, on the other side especially. “
Manhandled by her husband
The staging, punctuated by a haunting “sound”, becomes theatrical again in the last thirty minutes of the play. With the camera out of the way, the excellent actors are free to perform on stage, and we are free to admire them. Platonov, whose original title was Being fatherless is about inheritance and transmission, but Cyril teste broadens the scope. By illustrating the themes dear to Chekhov: lost illusions, money, property and the social condition. While the distress of the characters is palpable, in the manner of the Russian author or Simenon, the 40-year-old takes a benevolent look at the human comedy.
On the other shoreuntil November 16, Théâtre du Rond-Point, 2 bis, avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, Paris VIIIe. Running time 1 h 50. Bookings: 01 44 95 98 21, theatredurondpoint.fr.
On tour until March 28, 2025.