Alek Baylee Toumi

A French play about the kidnapping of the (deceased) Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir by Muslim terrorists. The two French intellectuals had come back to attend the funeral of a friend who had been murdered in Algeria, and on the way back, were kidnapped and their captors attempted to convert them to Islam. This is an interesting premise, but not as well executed as it could have been. There is a lot of posturing by both parties, and the result is more a debate than a play, but Sartre seems strangely less than his usual self. I suppose that's natural when you've been dead 13 years, but that's the point. If, as he claimed, Sartre had been living in heaven and had actually spoken with God, he would not have still claimed to be an atheist. This is a big hold, and one you can drive a truck through, but it isn't the only weakness. There is a strange subplot about a wounded taxi driver that could be interesting as its own play, but it doesn't add anything here. In addition, there is very little of de Beauvoir, an intellectual in her own right who is left with the women, as would be expected, but has been rendered silent for much of the play, while Sartre and his captors debate. There is one small scene with her, and then the play ends with her, but otherwise she is definitely the second sex. The God described by Sartre is the typical liberal God - female, of course, and fun-loving, who lets people into heaven if they've helped the world be better. In fact, the God he describes sounds so boring I can't imagine Sartre would have stayed in heaven for 13 years. Disappointing.… (más)