a single amazing scene about the resistance of a great actor

Without warning, “Maquisard” by and with Jean-Philippe Bêche arrives at the right time on the 80th anniversary of the liberation. The piece is on tour and in Paris.

With five roles written by him, Jean-Philippe Bêche stands out among the many singles on stage who occupy the theaters for austerity reasons. Lively, historical and personal, Maquisard is worth its text and the actor’s exuberant expressiveness and variations on a risky theme.

History of the resistance in Limousin in 1943, Maquisard takes place at the Bunker in La Rochelle until May 10th, then at the Arênes de Lutèce in Paris on May 25th. In his office as a teacher and author, Pierre takes on the challenge of writing about resistance. As he weighs the pros and cons, he is interrupted by the appearance of Jacques, his father-in-law, a resistance fighter in Limousin in 1943. Like a ghost, he unfolds in his FFI costume his journey as postmaster in 1939 to Barely 20 years old.

Trick question

Pierre holds a key job and is quickly recruited into the “Vengeance” network. Behind his counter by day, a resistance fighter by night, Jacques reflects on his exploits, his fears and his past doubts.

In the sober and warm interior of a wooded office, in which a suitcase and books stand, surrounded by scattered crumpled sheets, Jean-Philippe Bêche stages a story that is clearly taking shape: the story of individual commitment to the warmongering invasion. However, he never stops asking the trick question that automatically comes to mind: What would I have done if I were him?

Heroic poetry

Jean-Baptiste Bêche, again teacher, writer, resistance fighter, suspected collaborator, Jew, informer, takes the stage with a crystal-clear text. Fluid and evocative, almost like a fable, it begins with an energy and elegance that dramatizes the story and sets the scene. Secrecy, isolation, cold, hunger, waiting, fear, brotherhood, courage and gunfire underline the events with rhythm.

Jean-Philippe Bêche is rooted in reality and evokes emotions. He embodies the feelings of an ordinary person caught in an extraordinary situation. In doing so, he builds on a heroic poetry with historical sources, the echo of which resonates today in Europe in the resistance against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With a text perfectly crafted on the palate, staged with intensity and sobriety, the author and performer takes us, under the changing lights of Yves Thuillier, into the heart of a city, forests, moors, groves and gentle Limousin hills bathed in the sun be set ablaze war.



Maquisard
By and with Jean-Philippe Bêche
Director: Yves Thuillier
From May 8th to 10th
La Rochelle – The Bunker: 8:00 p.m
25. May
Paris – Les Arènes de Lutèce: 8:00 p.m