At the Théâtre Edouard VII, The Family is far from the tale

Samuel Benchetrit is a subscriber to this legendary place that is the Théâtre Édouard-VII in Paris. After Maman (2021) et Lapland (2023), here is The Familythe story of“a dysfunctional family who rarely see each other but whose father, mother, two brothers, Max and Jérôme, as well as his wife, Alice, will have to come together for an event that will change their lives”tweets the press release.

This “event” will take place during an aperitif. This is a well-structured and well-staged piece. The proof is that it kept the spectators seated for an hour and a half, without having time to look at their watches.

The setting? A slightly old-fashioned living-dining room. Sofa, old hi-fi, an aquarium without fish, a model sailboat, the back wall covered with an Alpine panorama, a coffee table, an armchair. We are at Max and Jérôme’s parents’ house. Sitting facing the audience, the father (Michel Jonasz) watches a documentary on desert locusts on television. Behind him, the mother (Claire Nadeau) paces anxiously in circles. She is the one who opens the show: “They shouldn’t be long. Still, it’s been a while since we’ve all been together here…” The father slumped in his armchair: “For Christmas.” Elle : “Christmas doesn’t count. It’s an obligation. We pretend. We’ve never been happy at Christmas, after all.” Him: “Not at Easter either. I don’t remember an explosion of happiness at Easter.”

A bloody duel

A banal conversation quickly interrupted by the arrival of Jérôme (François-Xavier Demaison) and his wife Alice (Kate Moran). Jérôme doesn’t seem to be in his element. He seems, a priori, to have everything to be happy: lawyer, two children, a beautiful wife, a German sedan. Max, as usual, is late.

There he is. Applause. He is played by Patrick Timsit. Max looks like a cigarette pusher. Tracksuit jacket, scruffy jeans, three-day beard, recognizable raspy voice. He kisses everyone except Jérôme, his younger brother, whom he doesn’t even shake hands with. They never got along, the two brothers. As soon as Jérôme was born, Max found him detestable. But Jérôme has to ask him for a favor. Something vital.

If the critic reveals the purpose of this somewhat special request, the show will lose (a little) of its Tabasco. From this urgent request will arise moments of tragicomic intensity since Max has decided to go to Tibet and does not intend to do his brother any favors. Unless… If what? Well, on the condition that the latter “lends” him his wife Alice with the beautiful back, for a year. Max, like Santa Claus, is a piece of shit. The two brothers will, before our eyes, settle their score. The duel will be bloody and (funny) relevant since everyone in the room seems to find themselves in it.

The meticulous spectator will notice here and there awkwardness, naivety, and bad taste, but the play keeps its promises until the final twist. Samuel Benchetrit has a skill, a sly side in the noble sense of the term. Against all expectations, it is not the two protagonists, the two stars (the two brothers), who emerge, but the three other characters: the father, the mother and the stepdaughter.

Michel Jonasz, Claire Nadeau and Kate Moran are the winners. The first in his disconcerting ease, the second in her gentle craziness, the third in her authoritarian beauty. The family will shatter into a thousand pieces like a windshield before sticking back together under the best auspices. Go ahead without fear and treat yourself to a good kidney with Madeira sauce after the performance. A word to the wise…