Mohamed El Khatib
La Dispute
© © Yohanne Lamoulere / Tendance Floue ©
© © Yohanne Lamoulère / Tendance floue ©
© © Yohanne Lamoulère / Tendance floue ©
Conceived and directed by Mohamed El Khatib
With Aaron, Amélie, Camille, Éloria, Ihsen, Imran, Jeanette, Maëlla, Malick, Ninon, Solal, Swann (alternatively)
Artistic collaboration, Vassia Chavaroche, and Marie Desgranges
Stage design, Frédéric Hocké
Sound, Arnaud Léger
Video and editing, Emmanuel Manzano
Production Collectif Zirlib
Coproduced by Tandem scène nationale (Arras-Douai) ; Théâtre National de Bretagne (Rennes) ; Malraux scène nationale Chambéry Savoie ; Théâtre Garonne – scène européenne (Toulouse) ; Bois de l’Aune (Aix-en-Provence) ; La Coursive – Scène nationale de la Rochelle ; Théâtre Cinéma Paul Eluard de Choisy-le-Roi ; Théâtre du Beauvaisis – Scène Nationale (Beauvais) ; Théâtre de la Ville-Paris ; and Festival d’Automne à Paris
In association with Théâtre de la Ville-Paris ; and Festival d’Automne à Paris for performances at Théâtre de la Ville-Paris
With support from Liberté, scène nationale de Toulon and Scène Nationale d’Aubusson
First performed on the 8th November 2019 at Théâtre de la Ville-Paris, with Festival d’Automne à Paris
Far from any Marivaux-like literary flourishes, this production brings us words spoken in a direct, unflinching way on the subject of the marital dispute, the premonition of the break-up. Given that they are the ones best placed to talk about it – though rarely listened to – the director Mohamed El Khatib invites children of parents who have split up to take to the stage and give their own points of view.
The real has always played the leading role in the works of Mohamed El Khatib. Considering no area of investigation out of limits to him, he prefers experience to expertise, source to digression, and personal account to professional analysis. Thus, a far car away from the alarming picture painted by psychologists, jurists, and sociologists in relation to the effects of divorce on the lives of children, he met, over the course of several months, around one hundred children aged 8 years old, of different origins. Right in the middle this tearing apart, how are they affected by the decision of their parents? What words do they put to this crucial event occurring in the early stages of their lives? How do they view this breaking of a sentimental engagement that they always thought was unconditional? Did they guess it was going to happen? Had they taken sides? Caught up in the ruins of this doubling up of the family unit, how do they, themselves, rebuild their lives? What questions had they always dreamt of asking their parents? This latest fiction by Mohamed El Khatib, written through the prism of childhood, treads a delicate path between audacity and discretion, emotion and mischievousness, and offers us a unique insight into a universal subject in society.
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Running time : 1h
See also
Mohamed El Khatib La vie secrète des vieux
Mohamed El Khatib furthers his passion for documentary theatre by tackling a subject that he brings from out of the shadows, namely that of eroticism and the love lives of “oldies”. Put together in a daring yet tender way, his new piece explores this theme from the perspective of desire, thereby going against the usual connotations associated with old age.
Talents Adami Theater, Mohamed El Khatib Stand-up
What will it be this time: thunderous applause or icy silence? In Mohamed El Khatib's opinion, the inherently risky nature of stand-up comedy elevates it to a theatrical art in its own right. A framework for expression of all kinds, it clears the path for transgressive laughter, in a cathartic space which brings us all together.