Art and politics for the high mass of French theatre. The Molières crowned Monday, April 24 the Comédie-Française for a delirious production of the "Bourgeois gentilhomme", as well as a moving play on Alzheimer's disease created at the "off" of Avignon. This 34th edition was also marked by a speech by the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul-Malak, present in the room. She defended her record in front of two artists who challenged her on stage about the pension reform.

"Today, there is a Ministry of Culture that defends loud and clear the French cultural exception, which defends the regime of intermittency which is a pride for our country. You have a ministry that has provided massive aid during the (health) crisis to support you all," the minister said.

Just before the evening, a few dozen demonstrators equipped with pots and pans had gathered in front of the Théâtre de Paris to protest against the reform, at the call of the CGT Spectacle.

The ceremony was also marked by the tribute of the French-Iranian playwright Aïda Asgharzadeh to the "revolution in Iran", urging the room to dance briefly in support of five women detained for dancing in "crop top" and whose video – which went viral on TikTok – was broadcast on a giant screen.

Aïda Asgharzadeh was awarded the prize for the best living French-speaking author for her play "The Persian Dolls", which is freely inspired by the story of her parents, politically engaged against the Shah before they fled the country with the establishment of the Islamic regime.

"In France, we must support the Iranian revolution," she said.

Among the other winners of the evening, the new version of the cult show "Starmania" won two Molières (musical show, visual and sound creation), a consecration for Thomas Jolly, director who will be at the helm of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

He received one of the awards alongside the co-creator of the original show, Luc Plamondon, very moved.

A renewed ceremony

Master of ceremonies, the director Alexis Michalik, awarded several Molières in his career, tried to give a more dynamic image to this evening, opening the ball with a song that he interpreted himself, escorted by a group of actors, in the style of the musical.

Followed in particular a succession of jokes ("The planet is not like the Minister of Culture that we can change every two years," launched an actress claiming to be an eco-warrior), sketches (a Molière "broken" replaced by a Caesar), a drag performance, a tribute to the legend of the theater Peter Brook and another to African-American music by the singers of the musical "Black Legends".

But the evening was above all that of the Comédie-Française on the public theater side, with four Molières, including three for "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme" (best actor for Christian Hecq, best show and best direction).

Behind Molière's comedy stands "the golden couple" of the French scene: the member of the Comédie-Française Christian Hecq and the director and visual artist Valérie Lesort, who have already received several Molières in recent years thanks to shows for all audiences acclaimed for their inventiveness ("20,000 places under the sea", "Gulliver's Journey").

The venerable institution was also rewarded for "Frozen, the forgotten history", directed by Johanna Boyé.

Still in the audience, Sara Giraudeau was crowned best actress, against Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Carré and Catherine Hiegel, for her interpretation in "The Bird Syndrome", inspired by the Natascha Kampusch case.

On the private side, the play "Oublie-moi", a nugget created at the "off" of Avignon in 2022 with a modest budget, won three Molières (best private show, best actor for Thierry Lopez and best actress for Marie-Julie Baup). It is a moving melodrama about the turmoil of a couple caused by Alzheimer's disease.

With AFP

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