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Wednesday 7 October 2026 Sign in Subscribe

A new staging of a Chekhov classic, played in near darkness

24 Oct — Théâtre des Saules, Paris · Opening night, 8 pm

Three performers in silhouette on a stage
Photo by Kyle Head / Unsplash

The set is almost empty: three chairs, a window, a single lamp that the actors carry with them from scene to scene. Everything else happens in the dark, and in the voices.

The director has kept every word of the play and changed everything around it. The family waits, argues, forgives and fails to leave, as it always has. But in this light, their faces appear and disappear, and the old comedy becomes something closer to a ghost story.

The production opens this month for three weeks only. Book the front rows: in near darkness, distance matters.

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Margot Vidal

Editor-in-chief. Cinema and stage, preferably from row G, preferably on a weeknight.

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