L’Événement

A production by La Comédie Française, based on the book by Literary Nobel Prize Annie Ernaux.
Concept & performance Françoise Gillard, artistic collaboration Denis Podalydès

In L’Événement (The Event), Annie Ernaux recounts in vivid detail, and with the perspective of several decades, three months of her life—from October 1963 to January 1964. These are the months between discovering she is pregnant and the days following her abortion, which was illegal in France at the time. “To what extent should a woman have the right to control her own body?” Françoise Gillard gives voice to the story that marked Ernaux’s twenty-third year, confronting, without compromise, the realities of womanhood.

In French, with English supertitles.
The performance will be followed by a discussion with Françoise Gillard.

Content warning: This production contains discussions and themes of abortion.

La Comédie Française

The Comédie-Française, founded in 1680 during the reign of Louis XIV, is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Nicknamed the House of Molière, it occupies a unique place in the French cultural landscape thanks to its repertoire combining classical works and contemporary creations. Bringing together a permanent troupe of exceptional actors and actresses, it perpetuates a tradition of artistic excellence while bringing the theatre to life with today’s audiences.

Françoise Gillard

Françoise Gillard wished to stage L’Événement by Annie Ernaux, seduced by the theatrical power of her writing and the richness of her language, both intimate and universal. The story of this experience with clandestine abortion resonates particularly today, when the right to abort remains sensitive and regularly questioned. Through this word, both personal and universal, she intends to make women’s voices heard when confronted with this reality and to give all its strength to the reflection carried by Annie Ernaux on the freedom to dispose of one’s body. By embodying this singular word, Françoise Gillard wishes to make resonate a message of vigilance, memory and emancipation.