Fear

A fascinating dive into the relationship that the Church has with issues related to the pedocriminality present within it, La Peur is a play that refuses shortcuts and dissects this mechanism of silence to the bone, without sinking into amalgams, with a deep and sensitive intelligence. Served by dialogues of exceptional density, François Hien's play goes beyond the simple framework of a news item to question our relationship to truth and guilt.

At the beginning, there is an evil pact. After his homosexual love affair was discovered, Father Guérin lost his parish and became the confessor of men of the Church. In his new role, he discovers that Father Grésieux has been responsible for pedocriminal acts, which have been covered up by a cardinal. In order not to be bothered by this affair, the latter proposed to Father Guérin to find a parish, in exchange for his silence. The priest agreed, but the intervention of a third man, a victim of Father Grésieux, tried to make him reconsider his decision.

Inspired by the story of Monsignor Barbarin who shook the ecclesiastical institution in 2016, the author structures here a nuanced and complex narrative, to help us better understand the ambivalence of men's motivation. Gathered in a tri-frontal set-up, the spectators surround a stripped-down scenography, of monastic austerity. François Hien deploys a refined staging, where the relationship to the truth and fidelity to the Church are confronted.

In the main roles, Arthur Fourcade and Pascal Cesari form a duo of great finesse, which sublimates this great social subject, beyond Manichaeism and self-righteousness.

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