in the theater, Laetitia Casta and Roschdy Zem bring Ettore Scola’s film back to life

Ettore Scola’s film, “A Special Day”, is currently being adapted for the theater in France, by director Lilo Baur.

Lilo Baur directs the stage adaptation of Ettore Scola’s film A particular day. The play is performed by Laetitia Casta and Roschdy Zem and is currently presented in Paris, at the Théâtre de l’Atelier.

It’s a unique couple that director Lilo Baur has brought together to reprise on stage the roles played by Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni in the 1977 film. A gamble too, as the shadow of these two immense actors hangs over this special day. “When I met Laetitia Casta it was obvious to me! She has a light, she has something from within that radiates, said Lilo Baur. And Roschdy Zem, who we often see in virile or very masculine roles, I really wanted to see him also in a fragility, a modesty that I find very appropriate for this role.”

So that history does not repeat itself

We are in Rome on May 6, 1938. While a large parade celebrating the fascist agreement between Germany and Italy is taking place, Antonietta, a poorly educated housewife, meets Gabriele, a dismissed radio journalist, in her deserted building. because of homosexuality. The character of Antonietta greatly touched Laetitia Casta, notably “his loneliness”. “She is a diligent mother who wants to raise her children well, continues the actress. She is surrounded by something gross and she will little by little become refined by meeting this man who will, in a certain way, awaken her to what she really, deeply is.”

The play, very faithful to the film, takes place in the 1930s but the themes it addresses are still relevant today. : the rise of extremes, the condition of women, the acceptance of difference… So many subjects which, for Laetitia Casta, justify performing this play 46 years after the release of Ettore Scola’s film : “Performing a piece like that is great because it allows you to question yourself. To say to yourself, what do I feel, have I ever experienced this thing where I am pushed aside? ?”

“It’s a wonderful play, and for young people it’s very good: those who haven’t seen the film can have access to it and it can make something happen.”

Laetitia Casta

at franceinfo

A particular day, in Paris at the Théâtre de l’Atelier until December 31, then in Nice from January 10 to 12, in Châteauvallon on January 19 and 20 and in Aix-en-Provence from January 23 to 27.