»Hell is Human »A dynamic executive, full of promise, in a dark three-piece suit. He hasclass, distinction, his hair is freshly cut: a young wolf mafioso with longteeth, a handsome youth, tyrannical and sure of himself. This is the Godof Paradis infernal.The play by Tiburce Koffi, which received RF1’s Gabriel Germinet prize in1996, is a Voltairian parable as humorous as it is edifying, denouncingwith sarcasm the downhill slide of our society. It stages a delegation ofhuman beings who en route to paradise to ask God for an explanation. Andindeed, His creation is in a pitifal state: famines, wars, massacres. Itis his responsibility to remedy the situation. But these naive andidealistic humans discover a world even more brutal than their own, andeventually they revolt. The woman who leads the revolt is a sort of Lilithwho has lost nothing of her impudence. She has encountered a strange oldman who, in a mad embrace, has given her a red tunic and a torch: theattributes of knowledge, which are to open her eyes to her condition andthe alienation she is suffering. Was it the serpent of Eden? Satan? orAnanzé the spider? Who knows? In truth, the old man resembles thesoothsayer. All of this ambiguity effectively throws off the spectator.The direction of Binda N’Gazolo has dispensed with the fantastic: nomagical teleportation, no supernatural effects. Humans are onlymanipulated followers, drugged by a soothsayer who is more of a tricksterthan a madman. After having drunk the contents of a little vial, they findthemselves among Moses, John of the Apocalypse, Saint Matthew, JesusChrist, Saint John the Baptist, and the Angel Gabriel. And in thisoperetta-style Eden, God becomes by turns the overbooked businessman, thecynical and haughty politician, the debauched chief of state who gets hisrocks off with the angels. What comes to mind are those large hoaxenterprises, whose financial scandals and permissive morals have recentlybeen the talk of the town: Madarom, The Temple of the Sun and otherDavidians… But in turning the tables, the denunciation of Paradisinfernal goes far beyond the world of sects: the spectacle attacks theembezzlement of the entire global political and economic system which basesits power on the bamboozlement of the weakest.These poor ridiculous humans, who let themselves be duped by a vulgarcarnival attraction! However, the message of Tiburce Koffi is not devoidof optimism: they have a sudden burst of consciousness and their idealismends by getting the upper hand. Their revolt reverses the totalitarianorder, and God must answer for his crimes! And if one might recognize God,on the other hand one must also recognize the sense of derision of theauthor, who knew to draw from religious lexicon and in biblical images toinvent formulae of a surprising humor.by Sylvie ChalayeTranslated by Kristine Butler
Music: Luc-Hervé Nko (keyboards), Ozée Khorsmer (percussion) Compagnie du Sphinx with: Ismaël Agana (Jesus Christ), Jean-Philippe Konan (God), BrigitteAttiahi (The Holy Spirit), Jean-Marc Fohé (Moses, Saint Matthew, Judas),Sylvain Gbaka (John the Baptist), Guy-Charles Wayoro (The Angel Gabriel),Ouedraogo Ablass (John of the Apocalypse), Ouedraogo Abdoulaye (Noah), MomoEkissi Eugene (The Soothsayer, Kacou Ananzé), Oulaï Antoine (Chi Yan Ly),Django Benjamin (James), Michel Gonou (Ouédraogo), Germaine Kouassi(Akissi-La-Rebelle), Hélène Brou (Hélène d’Europe).///Article N° : 5353