CHANGE: METHOD

Change: Method
A stage adaptation based on the eponymous book by Édouard Louis

It’s evening. We are in a room, filled with books, papers, and notes. In this room, a young man is trying to write. He wants to become a writer. Suddenly, another young man appears in the room, deciding to help him remember his past. The two men dive into the memory of the first one. Through this dive, we travel with them from a village in northern France to Paris. The young man who wants to become a writer will remember his high school years, faces, and situations that marked him, but mainly the process of reinventing himself and the need to escape from his past. From the beginning of the narrative, we realize that these two men are the same person. The self that wishes to become a writer is the present self, the self that wants to evolve, to move forward, while the other is the past/teenage self, a self filled with guilt and fear of the future, the self that would like to stay and constantly blames the present self for the people and places left behind. The conflict between the past and present self is inevitable.

Édouard Louis’ book, Change: Method, served as the starting point for a journey with Dionysis and Konstantinos, exploring the concept of identity in its broader sense, including sexual, class, and social identity, and how a personal story can take on social and political dimensions. Through this story, we follow the personal struggle of a person to change, to transform, to evolve, and to escape from their past.

Directorial Note:

We were not all born with the same opportunities, and not all of us were born in privileged environments. Some people come into this world learning to live under conditions of degradation. The story of this boy, from a poor family in a village in northern France, gives voice to these social classes and people who have a pre-determined and difficult future. Although I was much luckier than this boy, his story speaks to my heart, because which person doesn’t ultimately want to be loved? Which person doesn’t want to be accepted by others? Who hasn’t felt different from others, even once, at some point in their life? Who doesn’t want to find their place in this world? Only inspiration, strength, and courage do I draw from this story that Louis offers us, to move forward, to evolve, and to change myself as well. And perhaps one proof of this is the fact that I am making this performance.

I will close with a quote from Sartre, in which I believe the essence of the play Change: Method is encapsulated: “What matters is not how they made you, but what you do with what they made you.”

Eva Fraktopoulou

Important Note
Entrance is recommended for individuals aged 16 and above.