Reading in 3 voices (1 writer + 2 actors)

Fri 26 June at 8pm / Duration: 45 min / Free of charge

"He may have been your hero because he was the greatest of heroes, the most handsome, the strongest, the bravest or the most inflexible [...]. And it seemed that by following him you were purified [...]. You would never grow old. You would never grow old. You were growing old.” Vincent Delecroix

"He may have been your hero because he was the greatest of heroes, the most handsome, the strongest, the bravest or the most inflexible. Or maybe because he has a friend, a real, lifelong friend. He was your hero, because he was inconsolable and his mother stroked his hair gently - you were hungry for this touch, yet ashamed of it, as it was not manly enough. Also because, let’s face it, he was prone to anger and your childish tantrums were emblazoned in gold, or because his pride was a divine quality, not a failing. Because he wasn’t sly like Ulysses, pontificating like Nestor, stupid like Agamemnon, cowardly like Paris – and especially not cuckolded like Menelaus. Because he was pure, in his violence and his magnanimity, his pain and his triumphant joy. And it seemed like by the simple act of following him, you were purified, thrust into fire, just like he was, as a child, by his mother. You would never grow old. You would never grow old. You were growing old.”

Background

Vincent Delecroix is a writer and philosopher. He was born in 1969 and now lives in Paris where he teaches philosophy. He has written the story Retour à Bruxelles (Actes Sud 2003) and a collection of short stories entitled La preuve de l’existence de Dieu (Actes Sud 2004). He has also had four novels published by Gallimard, À la porte (2004), Ce qui est perdu (2006), La Chaussure sur le toit (2007) and Tombeau d’Achille (2008).