Philippe Quesne, one of France’s most important theatre makers, brings together a small, slightly eccentric community in his new work, which questions the role of art in everyday life with humour and melancholy. A subtle play about loneliness, community and the magic of everyday life.
“Le Paradoxe de John” ties in with one of Philippe Quesne’s first plays, which captivated audiences in an unmistakable way: in 2007, in “L'Effet de Serge,” the director portrayed a lonely man who organises small shows for his friends on Sundays, inviting them into his unique and fragile fantasy world.
In Quesne’s new work, the focus is now on a small group of friends who set up an art gallery together. A humorous and poetic universe emerges on stage, created from animated objects, a pianola and foam sculptures. The play once again explores the place of art in everyday life, while musical and visual inventions meet the poetically idiosyncratic texts of Laura Vazquez. Between effective effects and absurd situations, a theatre of intimacy emerges, bringing people and objects together in a shared, atmospheric composition and emphasising the necessity of the artistic act, however small it may be.
Press reviews:
Here you can listen to an interview with Philippe Quesne on Radio France.
“Dix-huit ans après ‘l'Effet de Serge’, Philippe Quesne offre une réponse au recyclage des œuvres dans une pièce à la folle poésie mélancolique, servie par les textes somptueux de Laura Vazquez, une troupe parfaite et un sens de l'image toujours impeccable. (…) Le Paradoxe de John est une grande pièce de Philippe Quesne, très classique dans le panthéon de cet artiste dont l'écriture est un flux performatif qui coule avec tranquillité sur le chemin d'une tendre absurdité. (Amélie Blaustein-Niddam / Cult.news)
“Eighteen years after L'Effet de Serge, Philippe Quesne offers a response to the recycling of works in a play brimming with melancholic poetry, served by Laura Vazquez's sumptuous texts, a perfect cast and an ever-impeccable sense of imagery. (...) Le Paradoxe de John is a great play by Philippe Quesne, very classic in the pantheon of this artist whose writing is a performative flow that flows calmly along the path of tender absurdity.” (Amélie Blaustein-Niddam / Cult.news)
