The Confessions
text and direction Alexander Zeldin
associate artist
with the Festival d'Automne 2023
in English, with French surtitles
duration 2h
Odéon 6e
© The Confessions
© © Christophe Raynaud de Lage
with Joe Bannister, Amelda Brown, Jerry Killick, Lilit Lesser, Brian Lipson, Eryn Jean Norvill, Pamela Rabe, Gabrielle Scawthorn, Yasser Zadeh
In his previous shows — Love, Faith, Hope and Charity, as well as A Death in the Family, all programmed at the Ateliers Berthier — Alexander Zeldin told the story of our world by weaving together fragments of individual destinies. In The Confessions, he chose to depict an entire life, from birth to death. His play is drawn from the story of his mother: her origins in Australia in 1943, her childhood in a modest background, her quest for education, her new start in life as a divorced woman in exile in London, and the creation of a family. Alice’s journey goes through the great social changes of the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of 21st century. Her love life is the common thread of a story of both personal and collective emancipation. With brief, concrete scenes, through moments lifted from an almost eight-decade-long timespan, the actors sensitively evoke the story of her life.
