“The War of Two and a Half”, on France Culture: Hélène and the boys or when Klaire does Grr revisits Greek mythology

Originally was a myth: the Trojan War. At the beginning were the verb and the words of Klaire fait Grr, talented author of the web series Dans ton flux, of the series Mon prince will coquettes, his story “of pasta and swords”, which has just been published (Binge Audio Editions, 192 pages, 19 euros).

It was also originally a call for texts from France Culture. To which the one who doesn’t have her tongue in her pocket (and that’s a good thing) replies: “Because I like having money to eat. » Except that, for her, “France Culture is culture framed in black and white, great texts and all that. I’m wrong, but in my head it’s like that, so I quickly think of a compromise between us: a classic story, but with my own twist. »

It will therefore be The War of Two and a Half. In short, we could say that, goddess ex machina, Klaire does Grr overthrows the myth. Except that she does even better: she gives Hélène the means to tell her story, “which is not exactly the same as what we were told”, continues the woman who handles euphemism as well as understatement . And to clarify: “It’s not so much about overturning a myth, but about changing the angle of the camera. In stories, the camera is always placed somewhere, the big lie consists of making us believe that it is objective and neutral when it is in the gaze of the dominant. »

Apart device

To do this, Klaire made Grr a, and among other discoveries, set up the apartheid system. By deconstructing what is commonly called the “fourth wall” (and which allows us to create a complicity with Hélène), she offers her the keys to her dramaturgy: “It is perhaps one of the challenges today fiction nourished by our struggles: it is not enough to change things to add black, “handi” or female characters to the same fictions by simply placing them in the passenger seat, but to stop stealing the steering wheel from them. ” Well seen.

Same deconstruction at work for the heroes that Paris and Achilles were for a long time: “There is nothing natural about a myth. It is shaped, it is constructed, it paints itself with glory, it becomes a marble statue. Here, we take the opposite path, we transform the statues into human flesh, with its doubts, its flaws, and its not really overwhelming desire to go and be defeated in war. »

And then there is Medea, who, always known for having killed her children, chooses not to have any. With Jason, she forms a cozy couple, “the opposite of what we are often sold as “ultra-romantic” couple situations and which often hide toxic dynamics. The idea is not to sell the “ultra-settled” straight couple, but peace. It’s gently revolutionary to make peaceful love desirable. »

Remarkable cast

Revolutionary therefore, peaceful therefore – all at the same time radical because, let’s not delude ourselves too much, in the end, the effect of surprise is there, “so that something emerges, finally, since we collectively delay realize the scale of the disaster. Besides, if we ask the question: “What has changed (or not) between yesterday (three thousand years) and today? ”, she answers without detour or figure of speech this time: “Not enough things. Things will have changed when we no longer have reason to fear men. »

While waiting (and not always for Godot), his text was accepted by France Culture and it was the director Mélanie Pécrance who took it on and offered a particularly successful radio version thanks in particular to a remarkable cast: Robinson Stévenin makes a Menelaus is absolutely Machiavellian and Camille Chamoux puts Hélène back in the spotlight, striving to make her heard clearly: “I found the text of Klaire fait Grr incredibly relevant, at the same time mind-blowingly intelligent (it’s like if the Mona Lisa looked at the guy who painted her) and funny”, confides the one who, for a long time now, has made humor a weapon.

On this scorching day in June, we were watching the filming of the last episode. Seeing them like this, we say to ourselves that Robinson Stévenin and Camille Chamoux are replaying history. That, three thousand years later, it was time. During the summer, Klaire fait Grr confided to us her desire to produce her text into a play, “but I don’t have the money to do it, so if a generous production comes along, don’t hesitate to write to the newspaper which will transmit. (I’m also selling a flan mold, rarely used, make an offer.)” We say to ourselves that it’s so good that we’re passing it on, and with pleasure again! In the meantime, grab your headphones because the broadcast is particularly successful.

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