Yasmina Reza questions identity, identities, gender, in her book adapted from a play : James Brown wore Hair Curlers
Copyright Babelio
“James Brown Wore Hair Curlers”
In her new book, James Brown wore Hair Curlers, Yasmina Reza,” Yasmina Reza breathes new life into Jacob Hunter, a character from the previous play Happy are the Happy. Since the age of 5, the latter has idolized Celine Dion. More than just a fan, he becomes one with the singer: he is called by her first name and adopts a Quebec accent. A little overwhelmed, his parents placed him in a psychiatric clinic. Neither one nor two, Céline sets about preparing for her world tour, with the help of her new friend Philippe, a white man who identifies as black. The Hunter couple, for their part, try by all means to free their child from this straitjacket in which he has locked himself, without however having accepted him as he is.
The major questions of our time
Through the Hutner couple’s visits to their son and his psychiatrist, the playwright analyzes the major questions of our time : identity, gender, psychiatry, family relationships, social balance of power... It must be said that Yasmina Reza, to whom we already owe the two fabulous plays Art and The God of Carnage, has the knack of tackling complicated subjects with just the right amount of lightness and humor.
Influenced by the theater of Nathalie Sarraute
Yasmina Reza was born under the name Évelyne Reza on May 1, 1959 in Paris. Daughter of a Hungarian violinist and a Russian-Iranian engineer who both fled communism to take refuge in France, she grew up in the cosmopolitan environment of Jewish families from Central Europe who came to settle in Paris. Attracted by writing, she enrolled in Jacques Lecoq’s classes in 1984, then, influenced by the theater of Nathalie Sarraute, she wrote her first play, Conversations après un funeral (1987).
Famous not only in France, but also abroad
Success is already smiling on her, since she receives three prizes, including the Molière for best author. However, it was after the birth of her two children that Yasmina Reza became known not only in France, but also abroad. In 1994, his play Art was created at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées, with Pierre Arditi and Fabrice Luchini in the main roles. The triumph was total and was exported throughout the world after its London production two years later.
A continuing rise to stardom
Continuing to write for the theater with The Man of Chance (1995), Three Versions of Life (2001) and A Spanish Piece (2004) and launching into writing novels in 1999 with Une Désolation, An award-winning author Her author’s Molière obtained in 1987 for Conversations after a Funeral is only the beginning of a long series of awards for Yasmina Reza. His play Art (1994) allowed him to win the second author’s Molière of his career. The greatest honor for Yasmina Reza, however, is that of being today the most performed French playwright in the world. Hers plays have, in fact, been translated and performed in more than thirty languages.
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