Arabic version link: http://petitlien.fr/6k6j
3aja2et 3a Monot!
« 3aj2et Seyr » a play by Josyane Boulos
It’s with a
lot of enthusiasm and curiosity that we prepared our selves for Josyane Boulos’s
new play « 3aj2et Seyr » at Monot Theatre directed by Clément Vieu.
We must admit
that her topic is a winner one: Traffic jam in Lebanon.
Based on
her writings in the previous years in Femme magazine, intituled “Carton rouge”,
the play is about two women in a car. Yasmina is forty and Lisa twenty. They barely
know each other, but while stuck in traffic, Yasmina will discover through
Lisa, the truth about her boyfriend, Chady.
The play is
a satirical Lebanese comedy similar to a road movie in the wild streets of
Beirut. It could have been a stand up comedy but Josyane Boulos says she feels much
more at ease writing dialogues.
Who
wouldn’t want to actually laugh about the tragedy we survive every day? Doing
otherwise would be too tough. We live in a third world country that is not
moving forward, on the contrary. Aggressiveness, hate, lack of respect,
impatience, misogyny and frustration…it’s like war has never ended.
The play
shows in fact that we criticize the others at a time where we do the exact same
mistakes and that is, the most important message of the play.
It’s one
hour long, it could have been a little longer since we felt the initial topic
was not treated deeply enough. More situations could have been added like the
phenomenon of half naked and furry bottoms on motorbikes and others unbearable
situations. But the play is not only about traffic. It’s also about jealousy, the
conflict between generations, and love, all ending on a positive note.
On
Thursdays and Sundays the lucky francophone can enjoy the French under titles.
The play is
entertaining but the actresses are slightly over acting. The part where the “Darak”
appears is hilarious. Actually, all the intrusions of the different men
character are funny. Tino Karam is good at performing them. We tend to believe
he is someone else each time he appears in a different outfit and personality.
The
scenography is fair, the set design is simple with some witty ideas and funny
tricks like the projection of real traffic jam matching the text. But then
again, we would have liked to see more of that in the second half of the play
as well as some sound ambiance of the packed streets. We felt the play was too
quiet in the background for such a messy environment.
Finally, we
heard that Josyane Boulos might have plans to take this project to a higher
lever. We do hope she does and we wish her good luck as we wait impatiently to
be surprised again!
Deborah
Phares
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