Based on Marguerite Duras’s 1980 novella, this dance theater work created by Razerka Ben Sadia-Lavant reveals “what the story does not tell us” of love’s erotic powers and inevitable pain. Performed by Sarah Crépin, with text read by Jacques Dutronc and Tal Beit-Halachmi. 
In French—with English titles. 
Running Time: 1 hour

Part of In the Words of Duras (February 18-March 18), a festival celebrating the life and work of Marguerite Duras with film screenings, performances, and exhibits presented by Anthology Film Archives, Baryshnikov Arts Center, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). In the Words of Duras is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Culturesfrance, Florence Gould Foundation, and FACE.

Photo by Katerine Blanc

Razerka Ben Sadia-Lavant (choreographer/director/stage design) founded Compagnie Objet Direct in 1999 following a stint as the head of the Nocturnes of Librairie Matignon. She has worked as a makeup artist for fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld and Jean-Paul Gaultier, theater company Pradinas, and choreographers Philippe Decouflé and Francesco Lattuada. She was a programming-assistant at the Théâtre de l’Odéon under director Georges Lavaudant, and she developed a ‘citizen-based theater’ alongside director Stanislas Nordey at the TGP in Saint-Denis. She directed her first play, A Sensitive Boy, in 2000 after reading Nicolas Frétel’s poems and plays. This was followed by Drunk, Taire, and the techno music-based HLA Project, which was first presented at the Vidy-Lausanne Theater in 2005. The success of HLA Project brought her wider recognition and she was able to stage The Man Sitting in the Corridor (2007) at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. Razerka’s most recent project adapted Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens as a poetry slam (2009).