The theater to get out of our “Echo Chambers”
Étienne Pilon and Mounia Zahzam
The piece Chambres d'écho, presented at Espace libre until March 4, is based on the real experience of its author, Philippe Ducros. In the 2000s, the playwright visited Syria twice and made many friends there, including one with whom he continued to correspond regularly. She is the only one who has not left the country.
The play takes place in 2019, when the character of Philippe tries to go and join this friend, named Samia in the story, via Lebanon. However, when he arrived, the Lebanese people rose up and Philippe found himself stuck in Beirut.
From this premise, Philippe Ducros writes a gripping suspense. Will his character manage to cross the border? Will he be reunited with his friend?
Etienne Pilon and Mounia Zahzam. Credit: Maxime Côté
Above all, the author offers a complex and very enlightening reflection on the current and past geopolitical situation in the Middle East. It evokes the many crises that have hit this region of the world in recent decades, often through the prism of their media coverage and their representations on social networks.
The text, delivered with aplomb by only two actors, Étienne Pilon and Mounia Zahzam, is dense, loaded, evocative, as poetic as it is ultra-documented. It is in total opposition to what the piece denounces, that is to say the oversimplification of complex issues through tweets of 140 characters.
A simplification that contributes to the creation of echo chambers – hence the title of the piece – and to radicalization.
For fans of geopolitics, as for the curious who wish to immerse themselves in some of the most important conflicts of recent years, Chambres d'écho is the piece to see, because it stimulates and confronts.
