Histoire(s)

It’s a “slices-of-life” play in which we follow the comings and goings of this small community over many years. A guilty father (who, through carelessness, let his child drown); a troubled woman (who hates her mother); a factory worker (who sorts sardines and endures an abusive husband). They know each other, cross paths, and spend time together!

I wanted to create iconic figures—totems. The story takes place today, in France, but it could happen anywhere else… Mourning, grief, joy, and love are recurring themes in my writing (and in literature in general) and, particularly, in this play. A snapshot of our times; universal dramas; multifaceted symphonies… the stories told are familiar to us; they resemble other stories we read in the newspapers!

A fragile humanity; “people” who are a bit lost; everyday life unfolds like a painting; a fresco that might be titled “Stories of the Century” or “The Heartbreaking Stories of Paul, Pat, and Anny.” Of course, farce isn’t far off! When you take a close-up look at the human race, it seems strange and burlesque!

“ “Story(ies)” is an exhibition featuring three journeys spanning perhaps 20 years; for they find themselves aged, changed… in the making; unless—once again, theater—attempts to craft what I call an “intimate epic.”

Here they are, these “little women and little men” swept up in history; in stories.

Philippe Minyana