Tempest in the salle Armonville

Following our exclusive interview with Marie and Henri, we had high expectations concerning the performance of Drama on campus on Thursday evening. A performance, which succeeded to bring us to a magic world!

Two plays, 31 actors and an amazing performance saluted by the final standing ovation. After more than a semester of hard work, Drama on campus showed us what they have done so far, and we had the immense privilege of watching the result. After a well-started artistic week, that had until yesterday featured the concert for UNICEF and the exhibition at the fantastic Opera, once again the theme “Anywhere out of the World” drove the theater evening with two plays: The Tempest, by Shakespeare and an original creation.

But how could we capture this event without talking first about the amazing performance of the actors, who reminded us that amateurism doesn’t rhyme with ineptitude? Because of the great number of actors, roles were played during the first play by different persons. As announced, the costumes were modern clothes, what put a contemporary touch to Shakespeare’s quill. The group managed well to make understandable the tricky and Machiavellian plot to revenge thought by Prospero, even by playing extracts. Shakespeare’s talent associated with Sciences Po students’ brought us somewhere unknown and filled with dreams and wisdom, and a pinch of magic.

The second play revisited the fairytale Alice in Wonderland, placing it in a totally different context: our world, while ending in a Shutter Island-esque twist. Brilliant in its contrast with the precedent classical play, this “surprise creation” featured the Rabbit, Miranda Kerr, Macklemore, Hobbesian existential questions (we see what you did here!), and a performance of “I Shot The Sheriff”. Mixing individual preoccupations to a caricature of the vices of our world, the freshness and the shrewdness of this surprise was hilarious. We acknowledge the writers’ effort to create a very sarcastic pamphlet of our society while offering us an original, creative and surprising play.

The 2nd edition of the Festival des Arts has until then entirely fulfilled its promises, and exceeded our expectations! And before the 2A got to celebrate their 3A admission results, laughter and solemnity wrapped our evening in a dreamy shadow.

#festivaldesarts #theater