Matéi Visniec, Hécube cause toujours

Abstract

Starting with Théâtre décomposé ou L’Homme Poubelle (1996), a play whose “monologues and dialogues are merely the textual building-blocks for a modular theatre,” Matei Vişniec has championed this narrative diffraction which has been a hallmark of his work. It is nevertheless true that the fable has always underpinned the playwright’s creation. While this was at first an undercurrent in his early plays, it is clearly seen in his most recent productions, such as Pourquoi Hécube (2018), which draws directly from the fable of the Homeric story. It is our purpose to explain how Vişniec, in drawing from the fable, takes ownership of an ancient tradition by following in the footsteps of Euripides, and also is inspired by the mythological representation of Hecuba, making her a contemporary of Dorra, the main character of La Femme comme champ de bataille, ou du Sexe de la femme comme champ de bataille dans la guerre en Bosnie (1997).