Actor Jean-Pierre Darroussin and columnist and comedian Stéphane Guillon take on the roles of the two heroes of the masterpiece by American writer Katherine Kressmann Taylor.
A face-off that sparks, thanks to Jérémie Lippmann's subtle direction, powerful script, and breathtaking performances.
No frills or decorum: everything here resides in the power of the text and the accuracy of two actors no one imagined on stage together. Jean-Pierre Darroussin, as Max Eisenstein, and Stéphane Guillon as Martin Schulse, correspond to the time of the rise of Nazism. One is an American Jew, the other German. As their letters unfold, the tone becomes harsher between the two friends, soon separated by everything. Their heartbreaking duel brings to the surface their respective anxieties, their torments, and their anger as the moment comes when fascist ideology infiltrates the hearts of men.
In a scenografia al tempo stesso creativa e sobria – il video e le luci creano scene toccanti – la raffinata interpretazione dei due attori fa miracoli, lasciando ampio spazio al'emergere della fragilità umana. E ascoltare un testo che, pubblicato nel 1938, non cessa di interrogarci: "Chi è buono, chi è cattivo? Cosa avremmo fatto noi al loro posto? Il coraggio è sufficiente to contrast the current? When when the orrore if abbatte, il perdono è preferibile alla vendetta?"