At Place de la République, people come and go, pass by, or stop. She and he don’t know each other, yet they strike up a conversation as if the two had arranged to meet without knowing it. They talk about this and that like nothing had happened. But behind this apparent banality, each of them shares and confides their story. We all build our lives around absences. We all have our missing ones, dead or alive. They left us. We lost them. She and he have theirs. They run into them, they come close to them—sometimes they even wait for them here, at Place de la République. And it’s not necessarily sad. Tegento, Anne, Philippe and others…where are they now?
We never fully recover from grief. We make do, live with it, and manage absences, sorrows, and memories. On certain days, we may talk about our losses just like that to some unknown passerby. And our missing ones seem so close.
The reading and show will be performed in French. Reading duration is 20 minutes; show is 1 hour.
A Tribute to Patrice Chéreau
Clément Hervieu-Léger
Preceding the performance of Place de la République, Clément Hervieu-Léger (from Comédie-Française) will read excerpts of Les visages et les corps by Patrice Chéreau as part of a tribute to the late French master director who passed ten years ago in October 2013.
An actor, set designer, filmmaker and director for theater and opera, Patrice Chéreau was a reference for decades. The text Les visages et les corps was published alongside Chéreau’s carte blanche at the Louvre in 2009; Chéreau had proposed an exhibition on faces and bodies in the works of Titian, Bonnard, Rubens, Courbet, and Raphaël. In the text, Chéreau comments on his career and influences and reveals a hidden side of his universe.
Hervieu-Léger was a close collaborator of Patrice Chéreau in his later years and is often considered his artistic heir.
Show Tickets & Details
Performances are free and open to the public; advance tickets required. Reserve free tickets through University Ticketing
Please note that even if tickets for a show seem to be sold out, seats often become available the night of the performance. Please arrive early for any performance in order to claim tickets that may become available prior to the start of the show.
Directions
Get directions to the Wallace Theater, located on the Forum level of the Lewis Arts complex, and find other venue information for the arts complex.
Accessibility
The Wallace Theater is wheelchair accessible. The show will be performed in French.
Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information about our various locations. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week in advance of the event date.
