Les Suppliques

« Les suppliques » refer to letters sent during the Second World War by members of Jewish families, both French and foreign, to the Vichy regime’s administration in the hope that their requests would be heard.

How can we give voice to these hundreds of French people, anonymous, forgotten and abandoned by the Vichy government? How can we bring them to life?

These letters form the starting point for a process of research and adaptation.

Each letter contains fragments of life that we seek to bring to the stage, imagining the fictional ‘off-screen’ context of these supplications.

What preceded and surrounded the writing of the letter?

Each piece of writing reveals a unique personality whilst providing a concrete and broader account of the persecution suffered by Jews under Vichy.

We set out to trace the authors of these forgotten missives. We focus on six letters, and thus six destinies. To this end, we interweave excerpts from some of their pleas with our own writing, so as to piece together the fragments of life glimpsed through these striking testimonies.

Created in 2023 – Le Grand R, Scène nationale de La Roche-sur-Yon

Time : 1h35

From 15 years old and up

Conception, writing and directing Julie Bertin et Jade Herbulot / Le Birgit Ensemble

From the letters of Rachel Schleifer, Gaston Lévy, Renée Haguenauer, Alice Grunebaum, Léon Kacenelenbogen et Charlotte Lewin.

With Salomé Ayache alternating with Charlotte Levy, Marie Bunel, Pascal Cesari, Vincent Winterhalter alternating with Gilles Privat

And the voices of Bénédicte Cerutti and Éric Charon

Historical consulting Laurent Joly

Genealogical investigations Aude Vassallo

Scenic Designer James Brandily, assisted by Auriane Lespagnol

Construction Anthony Nicolas

Light Designer Jérémie Papin, assisted by Théo Le Menthéour

Sound Designer Lucas Lelièvre

Choreography collaboration Thierry Thieû Niang

Costume Pauline Kieffer, assisted by Constant Chiassai-Polin

Stage Manager and Stage Operator Marco Benigno alternating with Victor Veyron

Light Operator Théo Le Menthéour

Administration, production Manon Cardineau, Colin Pitrat, Iris Cottu, Distribution Florence Bourgeon – Les Indépendances

Production Le Birgit Ensemble

Co-produced by La Générale de Production, Le Grand T – Nantes, Le Grand R scène nationale La Roche-sur-Yon, Théâtre Châtillon-Clamart, Théâtre Gérard Philipe – CDN de Saint-Denis, Comédie – CDN de Reims

Residencies Le Grand R scène nationale La Roche-sur-Yon, Théâtre Gérard Philipe – CDN de Saint-Denis, Théâtre Public de Montreuil – CDN, Théâtre des Quartiers d’Ivry – CDN du Val-de-Marne, Théâtre de la Tempête.

With the support of the Direction Générale de la Création Artistique – DRAC Ile-de-France, of the Ile-de-France Région, of the École de la Comédie de Saint-Étienne / DIESE # Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah

With the artistic Participation of the Jeune Théâtre National.

Thanks to the Costume Workshop of the Théâtre National de Strasbourg

In co-realisation with Théâtre de la Tempête

The text received the support from the Commission nationale d´Aide à la création de textes dramatiques – Artcena.

Photo © Simon Gosselin
Teaser © Mathieu Gervaise