Theater: The next time you bite the dust

the complex relationship between a son and his father, blending the search for identity, homosexuality and depression in a luminous narrative despite its shadows.Paul Pascot directs a powerful and unique production of Panayotis Pascot's phenomenal novel, *The Next Time You Bite the Dust*, written when he was 26, leading actors Roméo Mariani and Yann Pradal on an extraordinary theatrical adventure. A play of raw emotion that showcases the author's sharp pen.

For a long time, writing the book terrified Panayotis Pascot. And with good reason: it took him three years to tell "the story of someone who seeks to kill. Himself, or his father." In his autofictional narrative, three themes intertwine—his relationship with his father, the acceptance of his homosexuality, and depression—without ever descending into darkness, as light permeates every scene and bathes the actors transported within a bold stage design. Two brilliant portrayals of a son who seeks to dissect events and unspoken truths, who longs for a tender gesture or an affectionate word, and who underscores all the paradoxes of a taciturn father. The play's fragmented structure, poignant in every respect, paints a chiaroscuro portrait of the complexities of filial relationships trapped in silence, a portrait handled with sensitivity by Roméo Mariani and Yann Pradal. And enhanced by Léo Nivot's sound design.