Directors: Martin Darondeau and Bertrand Usclat

Stars: Pauline Clément, Laurent Stocker, Julien Frison, Danièle Lebrun

A huge hit in its native France, this comedy love letter to the theatre could be tilted ‘The Play That’s About to Go Wrong’. It is the opening night of a performance of Macbeth/‘la pièce écoissais’ at the titular prestigious theatre, and it’s due to be attended by the French Minister of Culture, and director Nina (Clement) is panicking. The crew and cast of philanderers, stoners and luvvies all regard her as a lightweight, and when her leading lady drops out, Nina herself must step in to play Lady Macbeth. Then her feckless partner drops their tot off for her to look after, while the inflexible lighting guy makes a disastrous discovery. The humour tends towards the broad, particularly scenes with Nadine, an out-of-it veteran actor who happily confesses to being stoned for her performances, and a running gag where Philippe (Stocker), who plays Macbeth, misinterprets every mistake as an inspired leap of artistic imagination. Still, this is spiritedly played and jauntily edited to a percussive soundtrack, and with an economic running time of seventy-five minutes, does not overstay its welcome.

David Willoughby

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