{"id":250,"date":"2024-10-07T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T08:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafemmecoupeeendeux.fr\/spectacles\/nemesis\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T08:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T07:50:07","slug":"nemesis","status":"publish","type":"spectacles","link":"https:\/\/lafemmecoupeeendeux.fr\/en\/spectacles\/nemesis\/","title":{"rendered":"Nemesis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bucky Cantor is Newark\u2019s new playground director.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Bucky is set on being a soldier, but his poor sight keeps him from fighting in Europe.In this summer of 1944, Bucky wants to teach determination, virility, physical strengthand heroism to the young jewish boys under his care.However, temperatures are rising on America\u2019s asphalt. Bucky will have to fight anotherwise unforeseeable evil: poliomyelitis.<\/p>\n\n

Who is responsible for spreading this child killer disease? <\/p>\n\n

Mosquitoes? Italians? God,or Bucky Cantor himself? \nWhen I first read Nemesis, I was struck by its subject, moved by its strength, andastonished by its vivid images. However, I did not understand much of it. When I readit for the second time, Philip Roth\u2019s finesse and irony became clear to me.At my third reading, I knew Nemesis had to become a show.<\/p>\n\n

On the one hand, Nemesis\u2019 characters deserve to be embodied \u2014 even though bybeing transferred from a novel to a play they must be betrayed and become hybrids,fantasies. That is what awaits them.On the other hand, Bucky Cantor joins a long list of blind, megalomaniac fictionalcharacters. If Philip Roth makes him short-sighted, it is his entire relationship to realitythat is twisted. As insecure as he is proud, Bucky Cantor embodies solipsism. This iswhy his perspective on life, as a subjective and dysfunctioning one, invitesdramatisation.<\/p><\/p>\n\n

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In Greek mythology, Nemesis refers to the goddess as well as the punishment: thegoddess enacts the gods\u2019 retribution, and the punishment sanctions those who havetransgressed human boundaries. This makes Bucky Cantor the hero of a Greektragedy: he is struck by hubris.However, the story also takes after biblical parables, especially regarding Bucky\u2019s relationship with God in the novel\u2019s denouement.<\/p>\n\n

There is tenderness in Philip Roth\u2019s writing, but also nastiness \u2014 and a surprising,overwhelmingly smart, joyous irony. Nemesis raises questions on the meaning ofconcepts such as contingency, guilt and resilience. His novel also deals with thevulnerability of Men as well as the overly masculine upbringing of young boys. Somany themes I find inspiring in Philip Roth\u2019s non-conformist work.<\/p>\n\n

Today, for this show, I know that characters will stop speaking and start singing. Tosome extent, Nemesis will be a musical. And musicals have everything to do withcontagion, transgression and megalomania.<\/p>\n\n

Tiphaine Raffier – 2023, January<\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Photo<\/em> : Simon Gosselin<\/p>\n\n

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The album featuring the original soundtrack is now available! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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