On the evening of June 12^th, the French all-star drama Scènes De La Vie Conjugale was staged at the NCPA Theatre. French actress Laetitia Casta partnered with popular French actor Raphaël Personnaz and acted out a marital entanglement.

Scènes De La Vie Conjugale is adapted from a film of the same title directed by Ingmar Bergman

Photo by WANG Xiaojing

Drama Scènes De La Vie Conjugale is adapted from a film of the same title directed by Swedish film director and drama master Ingmar Bergman. In 1973, Bergman broke up with actress Liv Ullmann and then he, in his fifties, spent four months making up a story about a couple’s real and painful life. The story tracks the whole process of a marriage, in which a couple appears united yet is separated at heart, then gets divorced but is reluctant to part, and finally get completely separated from each other. In 2017, in honour of the 100^th anniversary of Bergman’s birth, French director Safy Nebbou presented Scènes De La Vie Conjugale on stage, to show audience the essence of a marriage.

The two actors revealed the happiness, pain, hysterics in their marriage through endless dialogues

Photo by WANG Xiaojing

In its premiere, drama Scènes De La Vie Conjugale impressed the audience with the script as well as the two actors’ brilliant performance. Different from the original Scènes De La Vie Conjugale, whose length is over 300 minutes, drama Scènes De La Vie Conjugale is just 90 minutes long, compacted by Maryan and John’s conjugal affection of ten years. The play is divided into eight acts. As the curtain was raised, appeared two wooden benches, different in height and length, a white window frame, several branches outside the window, a flying bird...forming a middle-class marital living environment. The two actors revealed the happiness, pain, hysterics in their marriage through endless dialogues.

French all-star drama Scènes De La Vie Conjugale was staged at the NCPA Theatre

Photo by WANG Xiaojing

Laetitia commented, “When performing this play, many things were being torn at heart, and my feelings arose from not only my brain, but my heart, because only a thorough understanding of the painful feelings could enable me to perform the play well.” Personnaz interpreted the original work composed by Bergman over 40 years ago from his own perspective, “As for the play, what is most striking to me is that the characters don’t intend to hurt each other. For example, when telling his wife that he has an affair, John doesn’t intend to hurt her, and just wants to tell her the truth. Both of them chat with each other with sincerity, but their dialogues always end up hurting them. So, perhaps Bergman wants to tell us how to deal with a truth, and whether it is necessary to lay bare all truths...”

Scènes De La Vie Conjugale continues through June 13^th

Photo by WANG Xiaojing

Scènes De La Vie Conjugale continues through June 13^th. On June 16^th, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord will appear with Molière’s Monsieur De Pourceaugnac. On September 9^th, musical drama Vaille Que Vivre, performed by Juliette Binoche, will come on stage. The above three works will jointly show the charms of French plays and alluring French customs.