Marcus et les siens, a play written and directed by Charif Ghattas, will captivate the audience at Le Monnot Theater from May 23 to 26, 2024.
Marcus et les siens brings together a troupe consisting of Mélissa Broutin, Augustin de Monts, Quentin Paulhiac, Aurélien Rondeau, and Anne Werner. The play is written and directed by Charif Ghattas, who also plays a role in it. The work explores universal themes through poignant dialogues and innovative staging, offering the audience a profound reflection on the human condition.
Born in 1981 in Lebanon, Charif Ghattas' name resonates in contemporary theater. A writer, director, screenwriter, and actor, he composed his first theater text, Du vice à la racine, during his Modern Literature studies in 2000. He then staged his first play. His works have traveled between France and Lebanon. To his credit today are several creations, including Une éternité, Rotterdam la nuit, and Le Premier Jour. His radio fictions have been broadcast on Radio France and France Culture since 2012.
In 2015, he directed Le Paradis de Helki in Paris, a concert-spectacle merging theater and the music of Franco-Lebanese composer Bachar Mar-Khalifé. The following year, his play Les Bêtes premiered in France, directed by Alain Timár, affirming his penchant for innovative staging. Le Premier Jour was performed in 2017 by actress Hiam Abbass during a cycle of readings at the Jeu de Paume Museum.
Charif Ghattas is known for his captivating stories that resonate with his audience. His latest project, Marcus et les siens, is an in-depth exploration of family dynamics under specific circumstances. Sharing the concept and execution of this project, Charif Ghattas states: "Marcus et les siens is a beautiful human adventure. My friend and theater companion Aurélien Rondeau asked me if I would write a play for these actors and actresses, people I had known for several years, whom I appreciated, and for whom I immediately wanted to write these roles. To describe the writing of the play, I would say that the exploration of the family, a cell of individuals confronted with a vertiginous situation, forced to communicate and act in a form of urgency, represents a narrative world that has always inhabited me and is found in several of my texts. This writer's obsession with stories of life tipping from the so-called 'normal' to the extraordinary probably has to do with my Lebanese roots, which are very important to me."
Addressing the challenges of juggling writing, directing, and acting, Charif Ghattas attests: "I don't act in all my plays. Besides, I believe there are far more difficult things in life than taking on the challenge of writing, directing, and acting, right? For me, creation expresses itself in this way. I try not to overthink and to fully immerse myself in the creation, from writing to directing and acting. I see it more as a principle of communicating vessels, with the same pressure filling several containers. It's quite dense, quite rich. Yet, of course, you need to know how to surround yourself. It's the sine qua non condition. With Marcus et les siens, it's made possible because we are a family of artists, with shared acting codes, a common language, and also because I was able to benefit from external perspectives at different stages of rehearsals."
Regarding the actor's personal contribution to his role, he confirms: "Language is at the heart of my approach, just like the images of the actors' bodies that punctuate the performances. Words and images are carried and embodied on stage by the performers. They are therefore, at the heart of the machine in a way. Moreover, my scenographies formally tend towards great simplicity, a purity, to create attractions on the human element precisely. That's what I love in theater, as in painting or cinema, for example. I believe we desperately need to refocus our attention on the human element. Marcus et les siens, just like Dépendances, Les bêtes, or my other plays, are part of this approach to bring a stripped-down, almost naked intimacy to life on stage, to let life unfold."
What does he promise the Lebanese audience? Charif Ghattas responds: "Don't you think the Lebanese have stopped believing in promises long ago after everything they've been through? Let's just say that I hope we will share an intense and emotional theatrical moment."
Marcus et les siens promises to be a unique theatrical experience, offering the audience reflections and questions on the human condition.
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