when the war in Lebanon resonates dramatically with the poetry of Andrée Chedid

There are theater programs that could not imagine confronting world news with so much force and drama. “Omar-Jo, his own ride”, based on a novel by Andrée Chedid, at the Comédie-Française, met this fate.

The poetry and language of Andrée Chedid, the clever and moving direction of Anne Kessler and the sober and impeccable acting actors of the Comédie-Française make‘Omar-Jo, his own ridea spectacle to see as it resonates in these times of war in Lebanon. At the Studio de la Comédie-Française until November 3, 2024.

The story: There are three of them on set: an actor, a director and a sound engineer. We are in a radio recording studio. The public will witness the production of a podcast on “Children of War, episode 5”. The story of Omar, a child martyr from Lebanon in 1975, written by Andrée Chedid.

Omar-Jo’s story is that of a happy kid, until the day… He draws, his colored pencils are his joy, Beirut is bathed in the light of the Mediterranean. When his parents offer to buy him ice cream, he jumps for joy and asks: “A large chocolate cone”. In the next minute, a car bomb explodes at the bottom of the building, killing his father and mother.

As the grandfather sifting through the rubble whispers in tears: “I won’t sing anymore, I won’t dance anymore.” Omar-Jo goes to Paris to be treated and becomes the darling of an old Parisian carousel. Between the wooden horses, he dances, mimes Charlot and entertains parents and children. Maxime, the depressed and disillusioned fairground owner, comes back to life with this kid who, despite his drama, is bright.

This story of a child martyr of war who settles into his own arena and brings its owner back to life would be enough in itself. Andrée Chedid’s writing takes the viewer from a wounded and tragic Beirut to a Paris of celebration and rediscovered childhood. Omar has lost an arm, his face is scarred by a bomb shrapnel, but he juggles with words and smiles to liven up this ride where he has found refuge. As Anne Kessler, the director, told Franceinfo Culture, “oyes, we need to go out of theater with the hope, with the hope that this child that Andrée Chedid invented is a child who heals. He who suffers, he suffers, he knows what it is and his luck is that he knows what it is. He manages to heal and soothe and transform it into light.

“Children, they have nothing to do with the war because they don’t hate anyone,” says Adèle, the podcast director’s character, on stage.

However, it is impossible throughout the performance not to think of today’s Lebanon and its wounds. When one of the characters lists the dates of the Lebanese wars… 1975, 1982, 1990, the list is already so long, and 2024 is not yet mentioned. This creation was decided many months ago, Anne Kessler knows that current events spill over into the theater: “It’s true, of course I didn’t expect it. You have reason, it was pscheduled well in advance, so I I am obliged to remain silent in the face of reality.”

So that literature and theater win, all the same, she adds: “That I despair, because Omar–Jo speak of this war which began in 1975, And we always hope thatand it’s going to be pacify. Andrée Chedid’s novel goes in this direction, she wants to tell us that it will move towards the light, all the same. And here, we are forced to see that no. SO It is desperate. Once again, thanks to poetryhas literature, journalism, we must still create hope and hope. Even if there are times, it’s more or less easy.”

With “Omar-Jo, his own ride”, the theater finds that it can stand alongside the words of the victims and the text presents Coppola and his Apocalypse Now, Picasso and his GuernicaAndrée Chedid and her Omar-Jo, his own ride, as precious testimonies to this curious and absurd question “Why do wars continue?”

Staging: Anne Kessler
Dramaturgy: Guy Zilberstein
Scenography: Anne Kessler and Guy Zilberstein

Distribution : Claire from La Rüe du Can, Dominique Parent and Baptiste Chabauty

“L’Enfant multiple” by Andrée Chedid is published by Éditions Flammarion.