Le Président – Thomas Bernhard
Theatre
12 December 2025
The President is Thomas Bernhard's depiction of a political world imagined by the imagination. It is the story of a president who narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
His colonel died in his place, like the First Lady's dog, a complete loss. The play is clearly a satire, a grand comedy of power for two dithyrambic characters, caustic and biting, which cracks the veneer of appearances. Behind the man or woman of power, who is hiding?
No Manicheism in Bernhard's work, but a profound comic-philosophical irony that pushes us to reflect and question ourselves with humor and derision.
Adapted in the style of a clownish duo, the play explores the theatrical performance, from the backstage of a closed-door meeting at the president's home to the media spectacle of the president in the spotlight. Between the two of them, a third character, sometimes a maid or mistress, witnesses the grand performance of power and may turn everything upside down...
"The paths of politics are the same as the paths of art (...) and you are entering the greatest, most renowned, and most respected theater, my child."
Directed by: Caroline Fay.
Starring: Marie Teissier, Jérôme Kocaoglu, Caroline Fay. Costumes: Maïlis Martinsse. Lighting: Raphaël Maulny.
Produced by: Collectif Main d’Oeuvre. Supported by: Alpes Maritimes Departmental Council, l'Entrepont, le Cube/Cie Miranda, Le Théâtre de la Cité, le Théâtre de la Semeuse.