France
Visites à Mister Green began its life in France when it was still running in New York. John Berry, a successful film director who moved to Paris in 1951 when he was blacklisted by Hollywood, decided to direct and star in the French version of Visiting Mr. Green.
Sadly, Berry died during rehearsals, and his co-star, Thomas Joussier decided to produce the play himself.
There was a successful tryout run at Espace Rachi in Paris. Visites à Mister Green, directed by Jean-Luc Tardieu, starred Philippe Clay and Thomas Joussier.
The production transferred to Theâtre La Bruyere in Paris, where it ran for 270 performances.
“Visites à Mister Green est, tout simplement, un grand, un beau, un indispensable moment de théatre, Nous éntreint dès le début et ne nous lâche plus jusqu’à la fin de la pièce.”
FRANCE SOIR
“Visiting Mr. Green is, very simply, a great, beautiful, essential moment of theatre. It grabs us at the beginning and doesn’t let us go until the end.”
FRANCE SOIR
Visites a Mister Green was nominated for 4 Moliere Awards (the French Tony), for Philippe Clay and Thomas Joussier, for Jeff Baron’s original play and for the French adaptation by Thomas Joussier and Stephanie Galland.
The play was published by the leading French play publisher.
Next came an acclaimed 17-city French tour, then a return to Paris, where the play opened at Paris’s legendary Theatre Antoine.
“Visiting Mr. Green avoids all stereotypes. It’s a play that’s light and deep at the same time, funny and moving, superbly interpreted.”
LA TRIBUNE
Jeff Baron arranged a meeting and bilingual reading with the American Mr. Green and the French Ross Gardiner.
In the next years, Jeff Baron revised the play, and Thomas Joussier created a new French adaptation. Thomas Joussier directed a new production at the Avignon Festival, which also toured France, first with Henri Garcin, and then Claude Everard.
“Au gré des visites, maints sujets seront évoqués, traités avec subtilité et intelligence, mêlant humour et émotion, et chacun évoluera, apprenant à s’écouter, à s’apprivoiser, à se comprendre, nous donnant une belle leçon de tolérance et d’humanité.”
NICOLE BOURBON
“During the visits, many subjects will be evoked, treated with subtlety and intelligence, mixing humor and emotion, and each one will evolve, learning to listen to each other, to tame each other, to understand each other, giving us a beautiful lesson of tolerance and humanity.”
NICOLE BOURBON
Beginning in 2014, Jacques Boudet became the French Mr. Green, with performances at the Avignon Festival and around France and at the Bastille Theatre in Paris.
“Voici une pièce dont le dialogue vif, brillant, est à la fois source d’humour et d’émotion, un beau texte qui ne cesse de nous toucher. Une pièce qui, tout en tenant le spectateur en haleine, est une belle leçon de tolérance et d’amitié.”
CLAUDIA LUCIA
“Here is a piece whose lively, brilliant dialogue is both a source of humor and emotion, a beautiful text that never ceases to touch us. A piece which, while keeping the viewer spellbound, is a beautiful lesson in tolerance and friendship.”
CLAUDIA LUCIA
“Visite à Mister Green est une réussite dans le fond et dans la forme fait par et pour des amoureux du théâtre. On se sent les spectateurs privilégiés d’un grand moment d’art qui ne provoque jamais un seul ennui, aucune lassitude en 1 H 40 de prestations humaines et artistiques sans failles sur les fêlures de l’humain, les drames des religions prises trop aux pieds de la lettre, les incompréhensions entre générations et la grande Histoire qui malmène les petits histoires personnelles. Cette pièce est cruellement, délicieusement d’actualité, son propos est universel, percutant, important. On ressort bouleversé par la Pièce, ses personnages, ses comédiens et la lourde charge sociologique, politique, religieuse et personnelle de ce petit chef d’oeuvre à voir absolument.”
LE MAGUE
“Visiting Mr. Green is a success in substance and in form made by and for theater lovers. We feel privileged spectators of a great moment of art that never causes a single boredom, no weariness in 1 hour 40 minutes of flawless human and artistic performances on human cracks, the dramas of religions taken too much literally, the misunderstandings between generations and the great History that abuses small personal stories, ordinary lives. This piece is cruelly, deliciously topical, its purpose is universal, powerful, important. We come out overwhelmed by the Play, its characters, its actors and the heavy sociological, political, religious and personal charge of this little masterpiece to see absolutely.”
LE MAGUE
At the Avignon Festival, the premiere of Retour Chez Mister Green, a sequel set three years after the original play, opened to great acclaim and sold out houses, in repertory with Visites a Mister Green. For details, click here.