We have seen Lieux communs

A great moment for theater lovers with Baptiste Amann's "Common Places," which premiered two summers ago at the Avignon Festival. A great evening for Le Parvis, which co-produced this show by the season's associate artist. A screen above the stage announces it from the very beginning: in the play, everything is fictional. The daughter of a far-right political leader has been found dead on the asphalt just below her balcony. And already the police are arresting a suspect. Almost a guilty party, even, given his background and the color of his skin, which is enough to make him an extremist targeting the victim's father. The plot is set, and already everything becomes blurred. The backstage of a show, the set of a cultural program, a restaurant workshop follow one another without the audience being able to connect these scenes, or the drama itself. In his staging, Baptiste Amann begins to play with the audience in the manner of Wajdi Mouawad, favoring the arabesque over the straightforward. The audience moves through a narrative where the crime story serves as a backbone upon which a much broader message is built. Amann's text speaks to us of values, friendship, loyalty, and solidarity. Of racism, violence, and destinies. He creates characters who gain depth, who become more ambiguous, and who are no longer exactly where we expect them to be. Except for the investigators, who remain fixed in their certainties. A dazzling work that illuminates with subtlety and intelligence the certainties that drive some and the doubt that refuses to guide others. The audience members present in the theater will likely remember it.