Valérie Adda

Praised at the Théâtre du Rond-Point, dedicated to Molières 2019 by Molière for directing for Mathilda May, and for female revelation with Ariane Mourier, Le Banquet is a singular, strong, surprising and universal show. A wedding where everything goes wrong, a banquet where everything suddenly shatters. Without words but in a universal language, the characters love each other, confront each other, meet again, and get lost in a funny and hectic whirlwind. After the immense success of Open Space and when Mr. X was created with Pierre Richard, Mathilda May continues to make us dream and presents us here with a unique fresco. An exceptional spectacle.

Two young men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, discover they were accidentally switched at birth.

Brothers Martin and Simon, not yet teens, are incorrigible vandals; Martin runs away from reform school, Simon from foster homes, and they always find each other in a seacoast town of Lignan, where their destructive behavior is infamous. (It may date to their mother's leaving the family.) Martin is philosophical, romantic, and poetic: he dreams of being the son of a shark; he holds tight to a book about goldfish his mother gave him. In both halting and wild ways, he tries to court Marie, a neighbor girl. Simon, with a pocketknife and an intractable will, seems more dangerous to others. What, on earth, is there for these children-becoming-men?

During World War 2 the Germans arrested people at random off the streets of Paris and in retaliation to sabotage by the resistance announced the execution of one in ten prisoners. Chosen as one of the victims, lawyer Chavel trades his place with another man in return for all his possessions. At the end of the war he returns to his house and tries to integrate himself with the family of the man who traded places with him, all the while hiding his true identity. However matters are complicated when a stranger arrives claiming to be Chavel.

Nicole is a female attorney who is frustrated with the male-dominated world of provincial law. She embezzles money from a law firm and travels to Paris where she disguises herself as a man in hopes it will make a difference in her life and career. Nicole has two lesbian affairs and becomes a pimp for one of the women. She also has an affair with a man who indicates that he doesn't want a serious relationship. Nicole's loneliness leads her to the affairs as she continues the downward spiral into schizophrenia in this depressing psychological drama.

Hugo, a vain clothing buyer, meets Myriam on a train and pursues a relationship with her. He is delighted to learn she is a prostitute and has no idea she has more in mind than Hugo bargained for.