Wajdi Mouawad’s Trilogy

“Littoral”, “Forêts”, “Incendies”: Wajdi Mouawad’s trilogy is a triple punch of elemental and human forces: water/air/fire, birth/death/war, childhood/maternity/paternity, to name just a few. As a fragmented tableau depicting the search for self among a Montreal youth bred in conflict and displacement, its numerous pieces fall into place with the presence of all three plays at the Théâtre national de Chaillot, after a run at the 2009 Festival d’Avignon. While the plays have been performed individually in France over the last four years, seen together, they tell a compelling story of the paths love can take when buffered by the competing trajectories of the individual, family, society and country. (See reviews of earlier productions here and at www.parisvoice.com).

If the Greeks considered "agape" (self-sacrifice), the highest form of affection, it is the filial bonds which tightly crisscross the Trilogy that also form its emotional center; when they meet personal, social, political and even global aspirations, they beget notable acts of love in all its dimensions.

In the triptych’s middle, “Incendies” returns to the themes of “Littoral”, Mouawad’s first play, marked by the concerns of a struggling post-university young writer/actor, while prefiguring those of the epical “Forêts”, in particular the idea of broken promises. If the theme lends tragic weight to all of the characters' struggles, it figures most prominently in the story of Nawal, whose abandoning of her newborn son in the midst of civil war, sparks violent consequences for future generations. The question of culturally foreign origins and unknown genitors, which provides the trilogy's obvious intrigue, takes a monstrous turn in "Incendies"...

Under Mouawad’s inspired and imaginative direction, all the works impress by his simple and lucid use of space, color and music. A tendency to overstate concerns does not mar the force of his message. The Trilogy is the consecration of a necessary and ambitiously poetic vision of personal destiny writ in universal language.

To Sept. 19, Tues-Sat, 8 pm, (all three shows Sept. 11 and 18, beginning 11 am), Théâtre national de Chaillot, 1 place du Trocadéro, 16e, 8-32 euros single production, 30 euros /55 euros entire trilogy, tel: 01.53.65.30.00.

Photo Credit: Jean-Louis Fernandez