Theatre

Before the play begins, two 11-year-old children, Ferdinand Reille and Bruno Vallon, get involved in an argument because Bruno refuses to let Ferdinand join his ‘gang’. Ferdinand knocks out two of Bruno’s teeth with a stick. That night, the parents of both children meet to discuss the matter. Ferdinand’s father, Alain, is a lawyer who is never off his mobile phone. Ferdinand’s mother, Annette is in “wealth management” (her husband’s wealth, to be precise), and consistently wears good shoes. Bruno’s father, Michel, is a self-made wholesaler with an unwell mother. Michel’s wife, Véronique, is writing a book about Darfour. As the evening goes on, the meeting degenerates into the four getting into irrational arguments, and their discussion falls into the loaded topics of misogyny, racial prejudice and homophobia. One of the central dramatic moments of the play occurs when Annette vomits on stage, all over the coffee table and books.