Deux Ampoules Sur Cinq

DEUX AMPOULES SUR CINQLydia Tchoukovskaïa, writer and critic, has known the poems of Anna Akhmatova (the immense Russian poet) since she was a child. She passed her several times without ever daring to greet her. On 21 November 1938 she visits her at home for the first time.

Despite the danger this represents, Lydia decides to keep a journal of their almost daily conversations. ) Anna is banned from publishing, her son is in the camps, Lydia's husband has been arrested... yet speech, poetry and humour hold them firm in the face of History.

There is the communal flat with its noises, the small room where Anna lives, the ashtray in which she burns her poems after Lydia has learnt them by heart, Anna's telephone calls: “Come, whatever suits me is right away”.

There is also the queue outside the Leningrad prison, Lydia walking towards Anna's flat while repeating her verses to herself, Lydia alone, her thoughts of exceptional subtlety, the funeral of Pasternak...

and, of course: “Her”, Anna Akhmatova, a poet who would not be published for 25 years yet whose verses everyone knew by heart. Freely inspired by Notes sur Anna Akhmatova by Lydia Tchoukovskaïa. Translation by Bronislava Steinlucht and Isabelle Lafon.

Adaptation and direction Isabelle Lafon. Lighting Laurent Schneegans. With Isabelle Lafon and Johanna Korthals Altes. Distribution Emmanuel Magis / Mascaret. Production administration Daniel Schèmann.

Practical information: Reduced-mobility (PMR) reservations: 01 46 07 35 59, Monday to Friday 1pm to 7pm and Saturday 5pm to 7pm. Latecomers will only be admitted to the auditorium if the show allows it. Seating is no longer guaranteed after the time printed on the ticket.

Note: take metro La Chapelle, line 2, not to be confused with Porte de la Chapelle, line 12.