Maison Cocktail is named following, the play mixes humor, fraud and police investigation, and revolves around an eccentric bartender, who owns a nightclub, and resorts to impersonation on social media, in order to improve his business, he invites the pioneers of applications and social media to his bar, with the aim of meeting people fake, and in order to revive the atmosphere of his nightclub.
The play, which is presented in French, is not without riddles and funny situations, and it reminds us of the atmosphere of small Parisian nightclubs, which people go to for a drink and to meet for one or more nights.
The viewer spends fifty minutes, forgetting the difficult diary, and laughing at the way the nightclub-goers interact with each other. The play is a kind of funny black comedy, gathering Bruno drummer، وCynthia Karam، وMaria Douaihy، وPatrick Northand Joseph Assaf, written byWalid YazigiExcerpt of Bruno.
The “Art” website attended the premiere of the play, which is being shown in partnership with the Institut Français du Liban, and we promised you these conversations with the writer, director and actors.
Playwright Walid Yazigi
It’s your first play, why did you choose this topic?
I chose this topic because I want to present a different work, I wanted to get out of politics, from the stressful social and economic atmosphere, to present a work in the French language that is unfamiliar and entertaining. The play was scheduled to be shown during the month of Francophonie 2020, but it was postponed due to the Corona virus, so we decided to show it now in French. I wanted to address a bold topic, which the book does not easily address, so I loved to do this play. It’s a hidden social topic, which I touched on in a humorous way.
The play deals with a man who owns a nightclub, and does not have many customers, so he came up with the idea of entering social networking sites and applications, which allow people to get to know each other in order to start a relationship. Every time the nightclub owner resorts to changing his personality, he gets to know young men and women, impersonates many personalities, and invites them to the nightclub. People go to the nightclub, hoping to meet the person who dated them, and of course they will not find him, and the play revolves around the interaction between these characters, and the conversations they exchange.
Actor and director Bruno Tabbal
Is this your first directing experience? How do you rate it? And why did you adopt a rich decor with pictures of the waiter?
Yes, this is the first play that I directed since my graduation, and my interests were in cinema and television. I loved working with the team, writer Walid Yazigi gave me the confidence to do what I wanted, everyone made an effort, and I was surrounded by a great team, to deliver a beautiful play.
The waiter has a primary role, he is a perverted and narcissistic person, he is mentally ill, and the design of the stage prepares the viewer for what awaits him in the events of the play. Some of the decor elements symbolize Hitchcock, and prepare the viewer for the play’s horrific ending, which we leave as a surprise to the audience.
Is this your first time playing a Hichukekian? And what do you think of it?
This is the first time that I embody a character with this boldness, the character is unlovable, and not close to the heart. I wasn’t afraid, but I asked myself if people would hate me. After all, I’m an actor, and I’ve allowed myself to take the character to its limits.
Actress Cynthia Karam
What do you think of the character you embody in the play, and regarding working with Bruno?
I embody the character of the blonde, between the Lebanese and the French, who is only interested in her beauty, and she is petty who understands what she wants to understand, and does not understand what should be understood, and focuses on herself. The date she gives is just for fun, to see how people react when they see her. It represents fake people, who only think regarding money, and can get into a relationship with someone just because he has money, and she doesn’t care regarding love. She sees no one but herself.
Bruno is very open, it is fun to work with him, he expresses his vision of things, he understands by directing and light, and we were of one heart for this work.
Actor Joseph Asaf
Tell us more regarding your role in the play.
I am a policeman, my boss sends me to investigate a crime, there are crimes and mysteries, there is a person who kills people, and I am looking for who he is, when readers watch the play they will discover the details.
Is this your first collaboration with Bruno?
It’s my first time collaborating with Bruno, taking the stage to perform in French. I worked with George Khabbaz and with Al-Rahabneh for regarding 12 years, and worked with Camille Salama in the children’s theater. I love theatre, and I wanted to take on the challenge, to perform in French for the first time.
Actor Patrick Schmale
How would you rate your participation in this play?
It was a big responsibility, I love theatre, and I have experience working in it, but in small shows, and not in a professional way with professors. There was fear, but it disappeared when I got on stage, and I worked to give the complex, repressed, and unlucky character a chance to serve the plot of the story, and let it be presented in a funny way. I loved the experience, and theater for me is a kind of addiction, and I keep attending plays and movies, and if I were in another country, I would have taken theater as a profession for me, but I strive to find a balance between my passion and my working life.
Noting that the play was shown on April 6-7-8 at the Montaigne Theater at the French Cultural Center, and on April 12-13-14-16-17 at the Mono Theater in Achrafieh.
