Théâtre : L'homme du hasard - Conversations après un enterrement - La Traversée de l'hiver - Art

by Yasmina Reza

Voici pour la première fois réunie en un seul volume l’œuvre de dramaturge de Yasmina Reza. Conversations après un enterrement, La Traversée de l’hiver, « Art », L’Homme du hasard ont en quelques années imposé sur la scène française un auteur singulièrement actuel, dont les huis clos – train, hôtel ou living – sont autant de comédies subtiles et décapantes, d’un ton profondément moderne. Les œuvres de Yasmina Reza sont à présent jouées et applaudies dans de nombreux pays.

Genres: France, Theatre, Plays, French Literature

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Yasmina Reza began work as an actress, appearing in several new plays as well as in plays by Molière and Marivaux. In 1987 she wrote Conversations after a Burial, which won the Molière Award for Best Author. Following this, she translated Kafka's Metamorphosis for Roman Polanski and was nominated for a Molière Award for Best Translation. Her second play, Winter Crossing, won the 1990 Molière for Best Fringe Production, and her next play The Unexpected Man, enjoyed successful productions in England, France, Scandinavia, Germany and New York. In 1995, Art premiered in Paris and went on to win the Molière Award for Best Author. Since then it has been produced world-wide and translated into 20 languages. The London production received the 1996-97 Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award. Screenwriting credits include See You Tomorrow, starring Jeanne Moreau and directed by Didier Martiny. In September 1997, her first novel, Hammerklavier, was published.

Reviews

[leynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Yasmina Reza's first four plays that I would highly recommend to people who want to discover another side of Reza. Some of these are incredibly hard (or at least expensive) to come by as individual books, so this collection is a true bargain and a great treasure. This book collects the following plays: (click on the links to see my full reviews)

1 - L'homme du hasard - 3,5 stars
A man and a woman are sitting opposite each other on a train between Paris and Frankfurt. They are not talking to each other, they are thinking. She observes him because she has recognized him as the famous author whose book she is carrying in her bag. He's thinking about himself, his next novel, the foolish critics, the women he's known, his daughter who's getting married. Will she make the move to get in touch with him? And if yes, what will she say? What will she do? And how will he react?


2 - Conversations après un enterrement - 4 stars
Paterfamilias Simon Weinberg passed away, and, according to his wishes, has just been buried –not beside his wife, in the cemetery, but on his own land. The mourners cover the coffin with dirt as the play begins. Assembled are his three children, all in their 40s now: Nathan, Édith, and Alex. Also in attendance is Pierre, their uncle (on their mother's side) and his wife, Julienne, as well as Élisa, the odd woman out: formerly Alex’s girlfriend, she has actually always loved Nathan. What follows is a small family drama in which secrets, unlike Simon’s corpse, aren’t so easily buried.


3 - La Traversée de l'hiver - 1,5 stars
Six people meet in a hotel by the mountains. They have all spent their winter vacation there. When we are introduced to them, the vacation is coming to a close and their relationships with each other have already been established. Kurt Blensk, the oldest of them, is somewhat isolated from the group despite his best efforts to get acquainted with the other guests. 30-year-old Ariane fell in love with the older guest Avner, but he pushes back on her advances. The young writer Balint has come to the hotel to work on a scientific paper but quickly got distracted as he has himself fallen in love with Ariane, who isn't returning any of his advances.


4 - «Art» - 3 stars
Set in Paris, the story revolves around three friends – Serge, Marc and Yvan – who find their previously solid 15-year friendship on shaky ground when Serge buys an expensive painting. The canvas is white, with a few white lines. While Serge is proud of his 200,000 franc acquisition, fully expecting the approval of his friends, Marc scornfully describes it as "a piece of white shit"; but is it really the painting that offends him, or the uncharacteristic independence of thought that the purchase reveals in Serge?

[Czarny Pies · Rating 1 out of 5]

I strongly disapprove of scenes in which characters make love on tombs or in graveyards. One such passage exists in “Conversations after a Burial” which is why I am giving the entire collection a single star.
I cannot deny however that at times the much-awarded Yasmina Reza demonstrates dazzling talent. The first play, “The Unexpected Man” uses the main device of Strindberg’s “Stronger” to great effect. Properly staged and in the hands of the right actors, this play would likely be a great treat for the theatrical audience. The “Passage of Winter” provides a moving depiction of divine grace which reminds one of Strindberg’s “Easter”.
Woody Allen seems to be the prime influence for “Art” which won the 1998 Tony for Best Play on Broadway. It features witty dialogue and three charming characters who bungle into a crisis that almost destroys their friendship before their common sense allows them to put things right. Possibly trite, “Art” is nonetheless great entertainment.

[Mateu · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. L’Homme du hasard. J'ai eu du mal à le suivre parfois avec des monologues interminables qui ressemblent celui de Molly Bloom. Peut-être les acteurs faciliteraient la compréhension.
2. Conversations après un enterrement. Très captivante avec ces perdonnages torturés. J'ai pensé à Tennesse Williams. Je ne sais pas pourquoi.
3. La traversée de l'hiver. Intéssante critique des faux comportements sociaux.
4. "Art". De la valeur de l'amitié, des évolutions des personnes dans le temps et du mensonge nécessaire, ou plus précisément le manque de sincérité pour conserver les liens.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without La traversée de l'hiver it would be 5 stars.
L'Homme du hasard 4.5* - beautiful, a journey
Conversations après un enterrement 4.5 - fascinating
La Traversée de l'hivers 3
"Art" 4.5* - beautiful

[margaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

J’ai seulement lu «conversation après un enterrement» pour les cours et en vrai c’était pas si mal. Je ne l’aurais pas lu en temps normal mais les sujets sont intéressants

[Frédéric De · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 pièces totalement nulles. Et puis la 4e de ce recueil, Art, la grande pièce qui a rendu célèbre Yasmina Reza.
La voir au théâtre avec Fabrice Luchini et Pierre Arditi fut un immense plaisir.
La lire est une expérience délicieuse pendant la 1ere moitié, notamment à propos du snobisme qui entoure l’art moderne, mais la 2e moitié cherche sa chute longuement.

[Marc Masurovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time I have read any work by Yasmina Reza. I had seen "Art" in New York ages ago with Alan Alda. It was fantastic in so many different ways, but what caught my attention is the fact that the three characters were fighting over a white abstract painting. My mother painted two such paintings, 3 x 2 meters. Hence, I felt a special connection to the play.
I am about to read "Art". I can only comment briefly on "l'homme du hasard", "Conversations après un enterrement" and "La Traversée de l'hiver." The dialogues resonate in their dysfunction and the fact that no one seems to be really listening and is more concerned about airing their grievances so that when they try to express their "true" feelings (whatever those might be) their timing is off and the opportunities are missed and they fall on deaf ears. The "Traversé de l'hiver" had a special tonality. Two characters, elderly siblings who had fled Romania in 1940 and had been spared the worst of Nazi persecution, did quite well during the war and felt no guilt over having lived in relative ease while their brethren were being slaughtered. That might be part of the point--a certain disconnectedness envelopes Yasmina's characters and they wonder why they can't find what they want (again do they really know?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This review is really for "Art", the last play in the book. I'll read the other plays some other time.)

I like the way Reza's character are all analysts of life and the world and everybody around them, the fun being in the clashes between their interpretations as well as between the way they see themselves and actually act or react. It is witty, smart and very accurate (and up-to-date) in terms of the depiction of a number of French (and especially Parisian) mores, values and interests.

Note that there is something cold, sometimes cruel, in the relationships between the characters. This is typical of French "comedies" (to the point that this word may appear to be a misnomer if you are used to American "comedies"). If you are not aware of this, you may be taken aback. However, in this play's case, the tone and feeling is justified in my opinion, as an essential tool in the incisive criticism of the society described.

[Orlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vraiment un très bon recueil de pièces de théâtre, très divertissantes et originales.
De mon point de vue, la meilleure de ces quatre pièces est "art" car c'est une pièce drôle avec des personnages très stéréotypés et donc ridicules.
La plus originale en revanche reste l'homme du hasard avec ces monologues intérieur au cours desquels curieusement, on en apprend beaucoup sur les personnages et leurs intentions.
Les deux autres pièces sont également très bien elles mettent en scène plusieurs personnages regroupés autour d'un même motif et leur évolution est dépeinte, les dialoguent sont bien ficelés et cela doit être très divertissant à voir sur scène.

En somme, avec ce recueil vous trouverez du rire et de l'originalité. Cela m'a permis de découvrir une dramaturge contemporaine très talentueuse qui mérite le détour.

[Fabrice Conchon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recueil de quatre pièces de Yasmina Reza dont Art, c'est pourquoi j'ai acheté le livre.

Art est une pièce formidable - c'est entendu - mais les autres pièces à la lecture sont un peu "plates". Plates ... entendons nous bien, plates à lire, pas à voir jouer. J'ai une très haute opinion de Reza en temps qu'auteur dramatique (mais si je n'ai vu sur scène que Art) mais, au vu des trois premières pièces du receuil, il me semble que c'est plus un auteur à voir qu'un auteur à lire.

[zoagli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her best piece combined with three others from the same period (late eighties to mid nineties). At first, I wondered why their order in this collection isn't chronological, but after reading them all, I understood: there is a progression – from the self-centered double monologue in L'Homme du hasard via the more and more open Conversations après un enterrement and La Traversée de l’hiver up to the destructive climax in «Art», her masterpiece.

[Hin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only read "Art"

[Marie Soares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Except La Traversée du desert, I love every single story especially Art!

[Louise Schwab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Premier recueil de théâtre que je lis depuis certainement le lycée. Je recommande chaudement "Conversations après un enterrement", magnifique.