Playing the archive, october-december 1940

On 27 March 2024, the FMSH will host two performances of the play "Jouer l'archive, octobre-décembre 1940" (Playing the archive, october-december 1940). As part of an immersive experience, the company Théâtre Variable n°2 takes audiences back to December 1940 in Vichy, around the table discussing the application of the "law of 3 October 1940 on the status of Jews" in France.

Synopsis

December 16, 1940, Vichy. Senior officials from all ministerial departments discussed how to apply the law of 3 October 1940 on the status of Jews. Three days later, anyone "regarded as Jewish" would be excluded from the civil service.

Preserved in the National Archives, the astonishing remarks made at this meeting could have an air of vaudeville, were it not for the fact that they offer a glimpse into the chilling detachment of the political-bureaucratic machine at work in France.

A research-creation project to perpetuate the duty of remembrance

In 2019, the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique – PSL and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris have joined forces with historians Marc Olivier Baruch and Aurélien Poidevin to support their students in a long-term research project, covering both the history of the Second World War and the use of archives in creative work. Two years of meetings and conferences, master classes and document studies have given rise to the project « Jouer l’archive, octobre-décembre 1940 » which embodies the minutes of a meeting in Vichy in December 1940 on the application of the "status of Jews" in France.

Directed by: Keti Irubetagoyena, artiste-chercheuse

Dramaturgical advice: Marc-Olivier Baruch, historien spécialiste de la Seconde Guerre mondiale

Performers:

• Emma Dupont-Leonardi
• Anthony Leichnig
• Aristote Luyindula
• Alexandre Patlajean
• Marie-Aurélie Penarrubia
• Jenny Trehoux
• Marcel Yildiz
• Abel Saint-Bris