We understand How the Other Half Loves, a comedy by Alan Ayckbourn, better by seeing it than by reading the argument. On the set divided in two, two apartment settings, one more modern than the other (judicious choice by Emmanuelle Roy). It’s that of Fiona and Franck Foster (Virginie Hocq and Jonathan Lambert). The dining room table extends into the home of Terry and Bob Phillips (Julie Delarme and Arié Elmaleh). We quickly learn that Fiona and Bob are having an affair. Everyone is on alert when the phone rings.
Suspected of infidelity by their respective spouses, they claim that they spent the evening consoling a colleague, William Chestnutt (Andy Cocq), supposedly cheated on by his wife Marie (Sophie Bouilloux). Taken aback, Terry and Franck invite the couple to dinner. There is an uproar among these middle-class people whose men work in the same company. Effective responses, twists and turns of the protagonists who are not seen in their best light. The doors slam happily. There is some Feydeau in the most performed English author in his country, after Shakespeare.
Love in Others brings together unfortunate people who try to keep up appearances. Or on the contrary choose to let go. Mother of a baby, messy hair, abandoned to her fate, Terry Phillips lets the dust accumulate. Conversely, Fiona Foster always has a clean shirt for her husband. Hat with feather on her head, she looks overwhelmed, but above all she is blowing the wind. How will she and Bob get out of this mess?
Everyone’s lies make the situation worse, alibis collapse like sandcastles, bad faith reigns supreme. Here is a mess organized without concern for verisimilitude and that’s all the better. The task was complicated for Marie-Julie Baup who adapted the comedy by Alan Ayckbourn, 84, into French style. The actress comes out with honors. As for Ladislas Chollat, he has already produced several of his plays. Under his rule, the show is going at a breakneck pace.
The actors vibrate and entertain, they pass the buck without downtime. The association of the great Virginie Hocq with “little” Jonathan Lambert sparks. There is Pacôme and Petit Blond in their comedy. Comfortable in unusual costumes, Julie Delarme and Arié Elmaleh have nothing to envy. Likewise, behind their glasses, Sophie Bouilloux and Andy Cocq, with their distraught gaze, play to delight those overwhelmed by events. Great entertainment.
Love among others, at the Édouard-VII Theater (Paris 9th). Such. : 01 47 42 59 92 or theatreedouard7.com
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