Roméo et Juliette

As symbolised by the famous balcony scene, it conceals many other, far more complex forces, so much so that the romance only seems to be anecdotal. “There is a black sun in this play, that is what we must focus on”, says Éric Ruf, director and scenographer. Because this tragedy, which contains some delicious moments of comedy, is a ghost play that has not been staged as often as one might think. While it entered the Comédie-Française repertoire in 1920, it has not been performed at the Salle Richelieu since 1952. Worn out by multiple opera and film adaptations, it has been reduced to a romantic drama, yet it is composed of vengeance, political decadence and paroxysmal family hatreds. The contrast is brutal between the naivety of the infatuated teenagers and the programmed violence of the Montagues and Capulets that are bloodying Verona, the adversaries being driven by an ancient grudge whose very meaning escapes them.
“Unlike the bland legend that surrounds it, Shakespeare’s play suggests a hidden dimension to the human soul: the ideology of masculinity hurts women, leads to the death of men and erects tombs where beds of true happiness should lie.”
Marc-Henri Arfeux