Passeport

by Alexis Michalik

Genres: France, Fiction

234 pages, Paperback

Published January 10, 2024

Reviews

[lysandre · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started reading this, I thought it would be a simple story about migrants, but it turned out to be so much more. The story is deeply touching.
I didn’t expect the ending at all, and I have to admit I’m still shocked by it.
This is one of the best theatre plays I’ve read in a long time.

[Gaëtan Gaillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mais quel talent que ce Michalik! Comment prendre un sujet d'actualité social et brûlant pour en faire une pièce à la fois humaniste et pleine de rebondissements inattendus. A lire (ou à assister) absolument!

[Marmite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Passeport is well-acted and we’ll-written, but the star is clearly the set. There is a wide screen behind the actors that allows us to be transported with the comedians. There are also moving set pieces, similar to other Michalik plays, that work completely.

I have two qualms: the use of the English language and the narrative.

First, the use of English throughout the play is quite distracting. The comedians are French speakers and are asked to speak English with specific accents which just does not work. Sometimes it becomes quite cringy to hear. In addition, some of the dialogue is not fully translated back into French. I was surrounded by people asking each other to translate.

As I said , distracting .

Second, the narrative. Huge spoiler alert.

It became quite apparent around 60% of the play that both main characters were one and the same. I was waiting for Issa to finally, at last, just say that he was in fact Lucas but it took an infuriating amount of time before the twist happened.

In addition, when you look at the story in its purest form, without the veil of its political stance , its moral position etc, it is about a French guy, who, following a dramatic brain injury, is mistaken for an asylum seaker. And that , I cannot condone.

The play is hopeful when it could be tragic, it is light when it could be heavy, and smooth when it could have lost itself within the meander of the dramatically flawed French immigration system. I liked it, it was a good play, but I can’t quite say that it was excellent.

[Suzanne HAKIM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Envie d'assister cette pièce de théâtre en vrai.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Encore une pépite signée Alexis Michalik ! Une histoire qui sait intelligente autour de la condition des immigrés en France mais également sur les clichés et la politique migratoire. Un récit qui éduque aussi bien qu'il remue le lecteur ! Le twist final était aussi bien inattendu que surprenant, je ne m'en remets pas ! Une pièce importante, pertinente et touchante sur un thème complexe.

[karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

first read in a while that made me tear up

[Sylvie Dupont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Histoire intéressante sur les migrants parqués à Calais. La pièce de théâtre doit être sympa à voir.

[popo · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Atwalys Tristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexis Michalik est vraiment le roi du théâtre français moderne et il le prouve encore avec cette œuvre qui finira par devenir, si ce n'est déjà, une référence... elle fera date !!!

[Louise de Schaetzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnifique texte et fabuleuse pièce à propos des migrants: à voir absolument!

[spongebobism · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai assisté, j'ai kiffé (même si la résolution s'est déjà annoncée de loin)