L'Ordre du jour ・ Comédie-Française

“History is a spectacle”, according to Éric Vuillard’s "Order of the Day", which was awarded the Prix Goncourt in 2017. This short fiction revolves around several episodes – stirrings of the Second World War.

February 20, 1933: the book begins with a meeting of 24 German manufacturers gathered by Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler, who became Chancellor a month earlier. The goal is to fund the campaign of the Nazi Party for the federal election. The insanity of the ensuing war is described through the lens of small matters, of failures leading to grotesque yet horrifically destructive consequences.
This take on historical events, replete with comical hypotheses and bewildering yet accurate phone conversations, is especially fascinating to Jean Bellorini, the director of the Théâtre National Populaire. “Laughing at horrors is a true defence against them”. That’s the way he describes the wide repertoire he tends to direct, before adding, about his Order of the Day: “I want to make it a little reminder of The Threepenny Opera, to express frontal criticism of our society. In the play, the ridiculous aspects of history – turned solemn by the passing of time – are clearly visible. Money is always the main issue, as well as cowardice.” Fuelled by collective artistic work and a focus on the musicality deployed within the piece, he directed the Troupe in this choral production, taking into account the humanity of each member and the collective responsibility at work in the advent of the war. With references to 1930s expressionism and to avoid the risk of directing a historical reenactment, he included sensational musical numbers, akin to that of burlesque cabaret noir.

NEW PRODUCTION

BOOKING OPENS IN LATE SEPTEMBER 25