« Version of the Fait » on the TNL: Theater between fact and fiction

« Versions of the Fait », the play with which the Théâtre National Du Luxembourg (TNL) now ends its current season, tells of an incident in an anonymous district. It is about which circles such an incident can draw: a person is accused, a journalist reports about it, and a third figure embodies the collective’s voice. What was really? Is someone guilty? Or is the public attention of the trigger for change alone?

This piece was not created behind closed doors, but in dialogue with directing, acting and dramaturgy. Nathalie Ronvaux wrote it. She had a great success with her stage monologue three years ago « Moi, Je Suis Rosa! »in which she gave a voice to the once controversial work of art « Lady Rosa of Luxembourg ». This piece has now been translated into Romanian and Turkish and also listed in both language communities.

Nathalie Ronvaux is currently the residence author at the TNL and has put on paper at this time « Versions of the Fait ». The premiere and at the same time premiere of this socially critical drama is this Wednesday. Rosalie Maes, Marc Baum and the Canadian actress Claude Breton play. Directed by Liss Scholtes. The text is in French.

The author does not outline classic dystopia, rather she presents a realistic but still clearly distorted world: to concreted, overlooked, anonymized. « It is not a nameable time, not a concrete place, but everything still feels close, » says director Liss Scholtes.

Suspicions and excessive demands

The moral question is not the focus, but rather the development of the characters under the pressure of the public. « What happens when everyone suddenly looks? When a little thing becomes a big topic? » Asks Ronvaux. It is a piece of dynamics that are independent, over gaps, suspicions and overwhelming.

« A year ago I was asked if I wanted to accept this residence, » says Nathalie Ronvaux. « At that time I presented some ideas and we agreed on three actors. In December, the team then got an insight into the text that was created for the first time. »

Nathalie Ronvaux describes herself as a slowly writing author who likes to research for a long time. Therefore, it was a special challenge for them to be able to present their text on time. But this was also a creative opening: « I saw the people in the characters, could speak to them during the writing process. »

For them, a play always has a double life. One is the written, the other is the interpretation, the acting. This time the proximity to the stage shaped her letter, because not only the director Liss Scholtes, dramaturge Florian Hirsch and the three actors were also part of the creative process from the start. Scenes could be tried, texts adapted, effect and rhythm were checked directly in the game.

« Not everyone feels a text in the same way. But this creates ideas, and something living from the ideas, » says Liss Scholtes. The text was sharpened together, while the staging was already taking shapes.

Incidentally, Liss Scholtes had a similar situation in the spring of this year when the play was premiered « E Kuerze monologue Iwwer Eng Laang Zäit » by Guy Helminger in the casemate theater. There was already a finished text, but Helminger was always open to file the text with every objection to the director’s objection. « With a piece that has never been played, the question is always in the room: does it even work on stage? » Said Scholtes.

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« Version of the Fait » by Nathalie Ronvaux, staging Liss Scholtes. Premiere this Wednesday at 7.30 p.m., further performances on Friday, June 20, on Wednesday, June 25th and Thursday, June 26, at 7.30 p.m. and on Sunday, June 29, at 5 p.m. With Marc Baum, Claude Breton, Rosalie Maes, stage and costumes Alex Gahr. Tickets Luxembourg-ticket.lu, Info: tnl.lu