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Des gens intelligents
Marc Fayet
Des gens intelligents
photo : Céline Nieszawer
 
Actes du théâtre n° 77.

David, who is a sensible and thoughtful young man, has decided to get a separation from Chloé. Chloé, who is a clever and determined young woman, won't hear of it. Their friends, who are cautious and considerate people, are rather disconcerted. An ordinary and highly original story. Because everything is different when you’re intelligent. Or not.

‘‘Marc Fayet is this close to having written a play like Sarraute or Reza. Certain scenes are stunningly intelligent (the individual’s intelligence within the group is the play’s underlying theme).’’
Gilles Costaz, Le Figaro Magazine, September 8, 2014

‘‘It’s always a pleasure to see a play by Marc Fayet. An actor-playwright, he is expert at creating wonderful lines and plot twists, dashing off smart, funny texts. Setting up a relentless structure, he takes a preposterous idea and turns it into a time bomb for everyone involved. This is a playwright who paints colorful characters, giving the actors – and us – a chance to really have a ball.’’
Marie-Céline Nivière, Pariscope

‘‘Today’s male/female typology gets a strange makeover laced with caustic humor.’’
Artistik Rezo

Opened August 27, 2014 at the Théâtre de Paris, salle Réjane. Director: José Paul. Cast: Marc Fayet, Gérard Loussine, Lisa Martino, Lysiane Meis, Marie Piton, Stéphan Wojtowicz.

Characters: 3 women - 3 men -

SCENE 1 Late afternoon. David, Alexandre and Thomas are in David’s living room. DAVID And then I looked her straight in the eye and said: ‘‘Chloé. I think the time has come for us to let each other go our separate ways.’’ ALEXANDRE Point-blank? DAVID Absolutely, point-blank. Then I added ‘‘You see, Chloé! Our relationship has been full, it’s been fabulous, it’s been rewarding, a real whirlwind, but lately…’’ THOMAS ‘‘A whirlwind’’ – that’s really good. We should use words like that more often. ALEXANDRE Stop interrupting him all the time! THOMAS Sorry! DAVID ‘‘But lately we’ve reached the limit of our highest potential…’’ THOMAS ‘‘The limit of our highest’’ – that’s good too. ALEXANDRE Thomas! THOMAS Sorry. DAVID ‘‘It’s truly an act of generosity and sharing to say it, so that each of us can continue to grow and find fulfillment in life as it opens its arms out to both you and me.’’ And then I took her hand and said: ‘‘Chloé, the life that awaits us promises us immense happiness and love to come, I’m sure of it.’’ THOMAS Wow! That’s damn good! You rocked! ALEXANDRE Is that what you said? DAVID Something like that. ALEXANDRE And she didn’t insult you? DAVID Why would she have insulted me? ALEXANDRE I don’t know. You are dumping her after all. DAVID Absolutely not. I’m telling her how I truly feel, in our mutual interest. THOMAS No, it’s really good. ALEXANDRE Didn’t she react even a little bit? DAVID Meaning? ALEXANDRE I don’t know. Shouting. Insults. DAVID No, no shouting, no insults. ALEXANDRE She didn’t say anything? DAVID Sure she did. ALEXANDRE Oh! Well what did she say? DAVID There was a bit of a pause. ALEXANDRE What a surprise! DAVID There was a bit of a pause and then she said: ‘‘You’re right, David.’’ ALEXANDRE ‘‘You’re right, David.’’? DAVID Exactly. ALEXANDRE That’s all? DAVID That’s all. THOMAS Very civilized! ALEXANDRE And she didn’t try to sock you in the face? THOMAS Why would she do something like that, Alexandre? ALEXANDRE Because that’s the kind of thing people do in situations like that. THOMAS But not her, she’s a really smart girl. ALEXANDRE It’s got nothing to do with being smart, Thomas. There are times in life when you feel betrayed and humiliated, and you just feel like kicking and screaming. DAVID Where’s the betrayal part? THOMAS Yeah, where? ALEXANDRE Where? Tell me, was she in her normal state, or did you tell her all this while she was sleeping? DAVID No, we were sitting across from each other in the living room, she was reading a book and I’d just put another log on the fire. THOMAS Great! ALEXANDRE Great … So what happened after she said ‘‘You’re right, David.’’? DAVID There was a really long pause. ALEXANDRE Surprise again. DAVID Then I took her in my arms. Just that. We hugged each other tight, it was really sweet, really symbiotic, right? Without uttering a word for several long minutes, then we gradually began defining the new parameters of our relationship. THOMAS ‘‘The new parameters of our relationship.’’ That’s really well put too. ALEXANDRE Would you stop gushing over everything he says! THOMAS Don’t I have a right to show some admiration for what’s going on between David and Chloé? ALEXANDRE What’s admirable about it? THOMAS The way it’s happening! It’s so rare! Perfect harmony! ALEXANDRE Perfect harmony? To say ‘‘So long, Chloé, I’m outta here.’’? DAVID I’m not outta here, we’re separating by mutual agreement. ALEXANDRE Mutual agreement? Without talking it over beforehand? Come on, David, you’d have to be totally lobotomized to come out with a statement like that, and on Prozac to agree to it! DAVID No, sorry to disappoint you, but it was all done with absolute transparency. THOMAS Awesome! ALEXANDRE Hang on, Thomas! Think about it for a second. Can you imagine yourself in that situation with your old lady? THOMAS First of all she’s not an old lady, her name’s Gina and she’s Corsican too, which means she couldn’t be so detached about it, it’s a matter of culture. ALEXANDRE It’s got nothing to do with culture, you idiot, it’s just that she probably kind of loves you, that’s all. THOMAS Exactly. It would be so fine if she answered me that nicely even though she loves me. ALEXANDRE If I were a woman listening to stuff like that I’d feel like scratching your eyes out. DAVID First of all you’re not a woman, second of all you know nothing about my relationship with Chloé, and third of all not everyone functions the way you do. THOMAS Exactly. DAVID And that’s what you can’t imagine. ALEXANDRE I can’t imagine it? That’s the first time I’ve been accused of that. It’s precisely because I know human nature so well that I can put myself in other people’s shoes. DAVID Whoa! Mankind didn’t incarnate in the body of Master Alexandre. THOMAS Yeah, let’s not overdo it here. ALEXANDRE I’m just saying that if there’s a shred of humanity left in us, then we should have impulses and reactions that are a bit more passionate, don’t you see? DAVID No, I don’t see. We’re simply more levelheaded and balanced. It’s a matter of mutation. ALEXANDRE Mutation? Are you trying to tell me we’ve gone from having an animal to a vegetable instinct? DAVID No, we’ve gone from being animals to hominoids. ALEXANDRE What’s a hominoid?