C'est beau

A father and mother are at odds with each other under the ironic gaze of their child, whose mere presence prevents them from freely admiring the artwork they are contemplating: it’s impossible to say “that’s beautiful” in the face of their son’s hostile stare, which paralyzes his parents. A legacy of May ’68—comic books versus museums? A rejection of authority? Parental guilt takes on enormous proportions here.
The play thus portrays the author’s perpetual quest—for the object, the child, the spouse—a quest that never comes to fruition. We are punished for trying to uncover what lies hidden behind the simplest words.
This comic work thus mocks the aesthetic judgments made by the three characters. But the farce about language conceals the drama of the incommunicable, of dialogue as a struggle, and of language as betrayal.