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The Molières: 'The Fly' among winners at France's theatre awards

By Ollia Horton with RFI
France FabriceRobin
JUN 24, 2020 LISTEN
©FabriceRobin

The winners of the prestigious Molières ceremony, a key event in the annual theatre awards calendar in France were announced on Tuesday evening, during a prime time television broadcast. Christian Le Hecq's La Mouche (The Fly), a favourite from the start, came away with three Molières including best actor and actress.

The equivalent of a French oscars for the stage, the Molières awards went off without a hitch on public television channel France 2 on Tuesday evening, without an audience, due to restrictions in place to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Only the nominees attended the event at the Chatelet theatre in Paris, which was punctuated by some sketches in honour of French actors, and the presentation of winners in 19 categories.

Three Molières went to La Mouche (The Fly), adapted by Christian Hecq, who also won a Molière for the lead male rôle in the public theatre category. His counterpart Christine Murillo won the Molière for best actress. She had been up against Isabelle Adjani and Isabelle Carré.

The play, co-directed by Hecq and Valérie Lesort won a third Molière for set design.

Adapted from a text by George Langelaan, is the story of a scientist who fuses with a fly during teleportation.

In this comical version, set in rural France, an autistic man (played by Hecq) invents a rickety machine and ends up teleporting his neighbour (played by co-director Valerie Lesort) into a vaccuum.

He then makes a fatal gaffe and genetically fuses with a fly.

After an initial season at the Bouffes du Nord theatre in Paris, it is due to go on tour from January-April 2021.

Another big winner of the evening was Électre des bas-fonds, (Elektra of the underworld) by Simon Abkarian, which won three Molières; for best play in the public theatre category, best directing and best living francophone playwright.

It's a modern version of the Greek myth of Electra, daughter of King Argamenon.

Private theatre category
The actor Niels Arestrup won a Molière for the best male actor in the play Rouge (Red) by John Logan, adapted by Jean-Marie Besset.

The jury appreciated his interpretation of the tortured American abstract painter Mark Rothko, who committed suicide in 1970.

While the Molière for best female actress went to Béatrice Agenin, for her rôle in Marie des poules - Gouvernante chez George Sand, by Gérard Savoisien, directed by Arnaud Denis.

For a complete list of the winners, click here (in French)

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