Théâtre : VOYAGE À ZURICH

Director Franck Berthier entrusted Jean-Benoît Patricot with the task of writing about his experience of assisted suicide. Beyond the mystery of finitude, the score is played in the intensity of the present. Marie-Christine Barrault is luminous.

In this opus, Franck Berthier tackles the question of the end of life, not to plead a cause and explain the ethical and legal issues involved, but rather to bring into play the concrete experience of assisted suicide. In 2007, he accompanied his friend, actress Maïa Simon, who had decided to die in Switzerland. "Rarely have I felt such a vital force as I did during those three days," he confides.

By examining the effects of such an explosion on loved ones, the score invites us to grasp the infinite value of the present and the ties that bind us together. "Voyage à Zurich raises the question of what to do, how to be, how to accept and respect such a choice," explains the director. The journey brings together actress Florence Klein (Maïa Simon's theatrical double), her son, her daughter-in-law and her faithful friend, also an actress. Last sunset, last dinner, last night? Florence encourages them to accept her choice, to live life to the full, to let go of tensions.

Marie-Christine Barrault, luminous and always accurate, plays the actress who is about to leave her family with a sense of determination. "If the farewell is well done, the memory is richer," she says.

JEAN-BENOÎT PATRICOT
A doctor of pharmacy, Jean-Benoît Patricot decided to devote himself to writing, publishing his first novel, Le roi c?est moi, in 2008. For the theater, he wrote PompierS (2016), Darius (2016), performed by Clémentine Célarié, Voyage à Zurich (2021), which won the Prix Emile Augier? In 2023, his play Agathe Royale, starring Catherine Jacob, was staged at the Avignon Festival.

BY: JEAN-BENOÎT PATRICOT
DIRECTION: FRANCK BERTHIER
WITH: MARIE-CHRISTINE BARRAULT, ARBEN BAJRAKTARAJ, YANNICK LAURENT, MARIE-CHRISTINE LETORT AND MAGALIE GENOU
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: ANAÏS LEGALL
LIGHTING DESIGN: MIREILLE DUTRIEVOZ
SOUND DESIGN: ERIC DUTRIEVOZ
SET DESIGN: FRANCK BERTHIER
COSTUMES: CLAIRE SCTHWARTZ
CONSTRUCTION: EMMANUEL COELHO
VIDEO: TRISTAN BERTHIER

Coproduction: Bonlieu scène nationale Annecy, Théâtre Maurice Novarina Thonon-les-Bains, Scène conventionnée d?Auxerre, Étoile de Jade Saint-brévin-les-Pins, La grande scène du Chesnay-Rocquencourt
With the support of La ville d?Annecy, le département de la Haute-Savoie, Le belvédère des Alpes, La Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, La Fondation Demains