In Avignon, a Lebanese woman stages the female orgasm and its whims
Patricia Nammour, co-author and director of the play OSE is known to the Lebanese public for having worked on television, notably in the adapted version of Un gars, une fille. She then co-founded, with Caline Bernoty, a cultural association for theater and personal development, L’Atelier du Je. “For thirteen years, we led nine-month workshops, and for those who wanted to experience the stage, we helped them write their own texts, around their experience. We have launched a new style of theater that gives fans a chance, with a quality stage result. We created some very beautiful plays, and it was in this context that I discovered Claire’s talents as an author and actress”, recalls the one who translated into Lebanese and performed two plays by Carlotta Clerici, including Ce evening I ovulate (Chakhta, chakhttein). “This play, which I directed with Caline Bernoty in 2018, talks about a woman who is trying to have a child, and all the difficulties she encounters with her partner, but also with doctors, who ask her like a number, and all the talk that surrounds her in her friendly and social environment. It deals with the suffering experienced, on a register. I was supported by the society of gynecologists in Lebanon, some of which provided Saturday afternoons to discuss these themes with the public, with a psychologist. These interviews were very promising”, continues the author and actress who was seduced by Claire Deguernel’s idea of writing a theatrical text around the mysterious female orgasm and its whims.
After a diligent practice of dance, the latter joined Médecins sans frontières as coordinator of human resources. It is in this context that the actress reconnects with the theater, by participating in the Atelier du Je. Following a personal experience, the idea of the piece OSE was born. “I proposed it to Patricia, with a first draft of the play, and we rewrote the show with four hands to refine the dramaturgy and enrich the subject”, specifies the French playwright, who lived five years in Lebanon, between 2015 and 2020.
“If you don’t want to be part of the journey…”
Alone on stage, Claire Deguernel portrays the character of Mélusine, a 38-year-old woman who discovers orgasm by chance in her bathroom, all alone. “She is completely upset, and she realizes that she had never had this previous experience, despite the fact that she has been in a relationship for several years and that she has known several partners, specifies Deguernel. She, who must have had a fulfilling sex life, begins to ask herself a lot of questions, especially since when she tries to repeat the experience, she does not succeed, hence the subtitle of the piece Orgasm System Error. She then tries to understand the reasons that cut her off from her own pleasure, her intimacy and her own body, ”adds the actress who acts in this way the elements that prevent women from connecting to themselves.
The piece OSE was performed in Lebanon in 2019, at the Zoukak studio, and certain performances were followed by moments of exchange with the Aleph association. “Their goal is to promote sexual and reproductive health among women in Lebanon; They led discussions with our audience, in order to share different experiences, around what had been delivered on stage. During this month of July, we indicated our piece in the off of the Festival d’Avignon; we are in self-production, in order to present it without any restriction. We are supported by a French theater company, La Petite Main,” adds the actress who plays Mélusine.
Patricia Nammour, who has been living in Croatia for a few years, observes that the subject of the play OSE tends to arouse quite violent reactions in her adopted country, which was not the case in Lebanon. “With the Atelier du Je, we have tamed subjects that are somewhat taboo in Lebanon, such as homosexuality, domestic violence, divorce, cancer, and our audience has become accustomed to considering them without judgment, with love and beauty”, observes the director.
If the text has changed very little in two years, Claire Deguernel’s interpretation has been able to assess. “Over the years, I have distanced myself from the story, it’s a bit like me in the past, and I have more and more tenderness for this character that I no longer am. Every day, in Avignon, we meet the public in the street, to tell them about our show. The subject intrigues people, both men and women, and the reservations are more and more numerous”, entrusts the author, enthusiastic.
Patricia Nammour points out that many people associate their play with the Vagina Monologue, even though the perspective is different. “In OSE, it’s the story of a single character, and the stakes are not exclusively sexual. We hope that our participation in the Festival d’Avignon will allow us to meet programmers in order to take our text to different French cities”, wishes Patricia Nammour.
“If you don’t want to be part of the trip, I’ll go to seventh heaven alone,” promises Mélusine to her husband, Raymondin. The Breton reference of the first name is no coincidence. “The fairy Mélusine is a figure of Arthurian legend, she transforms once a week into a dragon. We really like this metaphor of the dragon, which is a bit of the hidden power that a woman can show once a week”, concludes Claire Deguernel with humor.
Patricia Nammour, co-author and director of the play OSE is known to the Lebanese public for having worked on television, notably in the adapted version of Un gars, une fille. She then co-founded, with Caline Bernoty, a cultural association for theater and personal development, L’Atelier du Je. “For thirteen years, we have led workshops on…