David Boutin is preparing to play a fourth piece, nothing less, during the 2021-2022 season, marked by show postponements. A first for the actor – who also welcomed a first child three months ago – who had never chained so many roles in the theater in a year. This was done easily, he assures, half of the productions being already very advanced in the creative work.
The interpreter underlines “the quality of the projects”, which attracted him. We are struck by the diversity of universes and registers in which his talent has been deployed: from Seekeran intimate science-fiction creation signed by a young author, with a classic Miss Juliethrough dark satire Ulster American.
His next theatrical appointment, and not the least: the title role of Vernon Subutex 1, the adaptation by Angela Konrad of the initial volume of the cult novelistic enterprise by Virginie Despentes (Konrad, who has just been appointed new general and artistic director of Usine C, intends to present a transposition of the complete trilogy to the winter 2024). The powerful work of the French writer visibly calls the stage: the renowned German director Thomas Ostermeier also stages the first volume, at the Odéon theater in Paris, and, coincidentally, almost on the same dates.
“There is a kind of rock’n’roll spirit in the universe of this novel, which can very well be translated into the theatre, thinks David Boutin. Angela wanted to work on it a bit in that rock spirit, with what that means in terms of delinquency, freedom to try things, energy, music. »
The show marks his first collaboration with the director, whose plays he had however seen. “She is a brilliant intellectual. But also, which is good for mounting shows like that, it has this kind of freedom and madness: we try it! We are not afraid! GB ! »
The actor comes alive to reconstruct the scene, the designer’s eagerness to test various proposals. “I think she has a pretty clear idea of what she wants. But when she chooses you to work with her, she’s interested in knowing what you think. This exchange is great because everyone on the team feels that they are part of the show, that they influence it in some way. It can only be stimulating, to work on a production like that. »
There is a kind of rock’n’roll spirit in the universe of this novel, which can very well be translated to the theater. Angela [Konrad] wanted to work on it a bit in that rock spirit, with what that means in terms of delinquency, freedom to try things, energy, music.
And the creation is carried by a great cast: Paul Ahmarani, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Violette Chauveau, Samuel Côté, Philippe Cousineau, Blanche-Alice Plante, Dominique Quesnel and Mounia Zahzam.
“The end of a world”
The choral story follows the social downfall of a record store and DJ, once the owner of a very popular store. After the loss of his apartment, Vernon drifts, squatting with each other. Until you end up in the street. Around him gravitates a galaxy of contrasting characters, with diverse identities, socio-economic conditions and ideologies, linked by a parallel quest: a producer starts a search to get his hands on cassettes of testamentary recordings bequeathed to Vernon by his friend Alex, a rock star who died of an overdose…
The adaptation is “very faithful” to this novel published in 2015, which paints a striking fresco of our time. “It’s really a gallery of portraits, notes David Boutin. Most of the characters are in their forties or fifties. They met younger, lived rock’n’roll together. There is a great nostalgia for a certain era, a disenchantment perhaps. Dreams that they didn’t realize for some, or love stories that didn’t work out. And that’s a lot about a time when ruthless capitalism is being promoted, so people are having a hard time living. »
In addition to these inequalities, this growing divide between rich and poor, the story also evokes the dematerialization of music, its digitization, and therefore the decline of an era. “We feel that something is changing, the end of a world. There is also the arrival of social networks, which means that now — here, it is I who extrapolates — people will sometimes allow themselves to say rude things. While the world of rock’n’roll was much more associated, for these characters, with the idea of community, with gang. Many now find themselves in solitude. When Vernon will have to try to find his friends, or acquaintances, to get a place [où dormir], he realizes that sometimes they no longer have anything in common. It is a portrait that presents many different visions of society. »
Corrosive
David Boutin speaks of his character as “vulnerable, in a state of survival”. “From the moment Vernon loses his passion, music and being a record store, he will withdraw into himself. He also experienced a lot of bereavement: a lot of friends died in a very short time. We don’t say that he is in depression, but there is something of that order. »
An antihero unsuited to the brutality of his time, but who possesses charisma. “It helps him, he will play it. He is a being of great sensitivity, capable of a great deal of humanity. I think it’s that sensitivity that makes people so drawn to him. But he is looking for, I don’t know, a truth. When he is kicked out of his little world in his apartment, he discovers real life. He is confronted with many people who think otherwise [que lui]. »
“Vernon got stuck in the last century, when we still bothered to pretend that being was more important than having,” says one of the characters in the novel. Crossed by “a lot of humor”, gritty, Vernon Subutex makes certain speeches heard “which could sometimes be shocking”: supporters of the ultra-right, violent spouse, trader embodying “wild capitalism”…
“It’s corrosive, of course, but still very human, nuances the actor. We can see that the author loves the characters. Yes, even if sometimes they say profanities. This humanity shines through all the time in his writing, and you can hang on to it. Otherwise, it would just be characters we would hate and it would be boring [maudit] as show ! (laughs)
This empathy of Virginie Despentes towards her creations allows us to try to understand them, even if we do not agree with their words, believes David Boutin. And through this implacable society, “it’s as if we wanted to bet on them by saying to ourselves: yes, the system has its injustices, its inequalities, but they are human beings above all. We manage to perceive it. Even in the street, we continue to help each other. It’s this humanity that still gives us hope, I think. »