“Beyrouth Hôtel” will be performed during the Festival d’Avignon

This marvelous on-stage duo by Nathalie Comtat and Olivier Douau is full of surprising truths. Subtle and funny, remarkably written and acted, it is endearingly sincere. The scene takes place in Beirut in a rather mediocre hotel where the young Lebanese receptionist offers her charms on occasion. A Parisian playwright arrives there, waiting for an appointment with a producer who will never arrive. In the entrance of the hotel they will keep each other company for a few days.

Everything seems to oppose this improbable encounter between a young oriental woman and a fifty-year-old westerner. She, very spontaneous, portrays a very touching character, a little vulgar, who intends to live life to the fullest despite the war. He, damaged by a recent divorce, poses as an intellectual. His suffering career is a nagging concern.

The classic existential questions of the Parisian collide with the realism and the pleasure of living of the young woman. This one has no complex in displaying her desire for money, even if it means offering to monetize her charms. From the well-sent and reciprocal replies spring hilarious retorts and reciprocal derision. Even if the playwright does not fall for an adventure that could have been programmed, little by little the male shell cracks. The young receptionist shows great insight into the disenchantment of this hotel guest. Clichés and conventional ideas are shattered. Gradually, scraps of sincerity slip away. With sometimes, on both sides, bursts of tenderness. Not say, of course. Everyone sees clearly in themselves and accepts it.

What if the informal and real encounters that we all have, at some point, had this virtue?

A play by Rémi de Vos, playwright, he was born in 1963, he embarked on the path of playwriting in 1994 with Débrayage which earned him fame and a Beaumarchais scholarship.
In 1997, he wrote André le Magnifique (five Molières in 1997 including those for “best author” and “best creation”).

Since then, he has had a string of successes:
– Till Death Do Us Part (2003);
– Sextet (2009);
– Breakage (2012);
– Three ruptures (2014).

His subjects revolve around dramas, separations, wars and exclusions. In these extreme situations, humor allows us to look life in the face. Created in 2008, Beirut Hotel was staged for the first time at the Théâtre Studio des Champs Elysées, with Niels Arestrup.

The actress, Nathalie Comtat, his career came to life at the age of 7, as a child he participated in balls, likes to dance, act and sing on stage.
Olivier Douau, actor and director, he is artistic director of the Compagnie du Nouveau Monde, he is also a facilitator of theater workshops and Teen Lab (creative space for young people).

“Beyrouth Hôtel” the play was performed this winter at the Petit Gymnase theater in Paris, Marie Bell -38 boulevard de Bonne-Nouvelle – Paris 10th.

This show will be given during the Festival d’Avignon from July 7 to 30 at 6:35 p.m. at the Théâtre de l’Adresse, 2 av de la Trillade. Avignon. (Release on 12, 19 and 26). Reservation: 06 16 82 04 03.

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Veronique BURNOD

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