La Leçon
When language becomes an instrument of domination, what else can happen but the worst? Robin Renucci brings to the stage the modernity of Ionesco's text and his violently comic and dramatic theater.
How do we act to share knowledge and create a desire to learn? It is first and foremost the notion of transmission that will have led Robin Renucci to revive La Leçon. In this text written in 1950, knowledge is imposed. A teacher receives a pupil. He, writes Ionesco, is at first "excessively polite and very shy", while she, is "lively, cheerful and dynamic". But as he quizzes her on geography, arithmetic and linguistics, the man goes into a linguistic delirium that becomes an instrument of torture. The young girl is coerced, manipulated, abused and finally annihilated.
To stage this text, which he believes should be heard by everyone, especially young people, Robin Renucci chose an open, outdoor venue. "Everyone knows you here", says the student to the teacher when she arrives. A line that must be remembered at the end of the play to fully grasp its resonance. For this is also where the modernity of La Leçon lies: the overstepping of power is played out in full view of everyone.
