So….I’m back at the keyboard after a few intense days.
Today I’m in France warming up for yet another show which I took to Brighton Fringe in 2016. Indeed these past 3 weeks I’ve been in France quite a lot touching different cities and regions: Tours, Besançon and the small town of Longwy, where I am right now, located exactly in between the border with Luxembourg and Belgium.
In our play Brexit the conflictual relationship between France and Great Britain is depicted by the disdain of the father (Charles) towards French people. His son instead (Eric) wants to move to France to become a mime artist and this leads inevitably the two protagonists towards a clash when discussing their position on the Brexit referendum.
When we premiered in France at the Avignon Off Festival in 2018 I was kind of worried of what the reaction of the French audience would be given that some of the comic gags in the play are built around this British anti-French stereotype. Instead, we were surprised to receive a warm welcome, particularly by the French press (you can read a detailed review by a French journalist here).
Apart from a small accident that occurred during one of our performances, when a French lady, in a bout of nationalistic passion chipped in during the final dialogue between the two protagonists.
The scene is the following… the referendum results are announced on TV and Charles and Eric slowly react to the news as the reality of the outcome sinks in.
CHARLES: Eric, we did it. That’s incredible
ERIC: What happens now?
CHARLES: I have no idea.
ERIC: But what about my future?
And to this simple question our French member of the audience could not resist to spring up from her seat and shout with a heavy Gaulic accent…
FRENCH LADY: “YOU HAVE NO FUTURE!”
Upon hearing this the whole theatre roared with laughter.
Indeed, we could not have asked for a better ending.
Brexit is playing on 31 May to 2 June @ Rialto Theatre, Brighton
(link to the show on the Brighton Fringe website)
