Alphonse Allais would have dreamed of it. The humorist Philippe Fertray, certainly to pay homage to the one he considers his master of puns, does it by daring to divert the commandment of Christ, in a single stage, Like the others, a crazy piece in which he mocks, without ferocity but with spirit, the addictive stupidity of social networks.
For this amused pamphlet against digital madness, the ludion of the Théâtre de la Contrescarpe has chosen, with strong caricature, to paint a series of portraits of geeks not stung by beetles. Taking the pretext of a fashion show at the Alfortville recycling fair, Philippe Fertray, made up in garish and unbecoming “post-covid” costumes invented by the visual artist Sophy Adam, pastiche the contemporary princes that are the aficionados of social networks (or concerned according to the author).
Between two calls to his grandson Theo, whose future 2.0 seems to worry him, our showman born in 1968 in Costa Rica and fed with Marcel Duchamp and Monty Python, brings to life eleven “freaks” guaranteed for Google: the prof from English (a crisp tribute to Monty Python), Soliflore78 a powdered water saleswoman, Warrior en barre a war maker, Ahmed-Éric, a plastic singer, Kenji-Kevin, a paranoid conspirator (pleonasm)… The whole, shaken and not agitated on a haunting electro background that makes us happily miss Charles Aznavour’s La Bohème.
With this anthology of “internetian” stupidity, one might think Philippe Fertray disillusioned or even desperate. This is not the case because like Alphonse Allais, this songwriter from Bergerac (he lives happily in the city of Cyrano) knows that “eternity is long, especially towards the end”. And, that is why like a ray of sunshine, he gives the floor in his final act to Patrick Modiano and his marvelous “world before”.
Like each other by and by Philippe Fertray at the Théâtre de la Contrescarpe until July 31, 2023, 5 rue Blainville Paris Ve. Information on 01 42 01 81 88 or on the site theatredelacontrescarpe.fr
To give a taste of Philippe Fertray’s humor, here is an extract from the show Pas d’souci where he was already working on the confusion of languages and the difficulty of deciphering the contemporary world.
