In Two direct old ladies  in the North - a sort of road movie with two “elderly” Thelma and Louise - the actresses tackle the theme of death through the ironic writing of Pierre Notte . Annette and Bernadette have just lost their mother and decided to bury her ashes near those of their father, in the north of the country. But in reality a daring journey begins, both real and metaphorical, full of memories and accounts to close. A mix of corrosive humor and tenderness.

" Deux petites dames vers le Nord is a delicate fantasy about disrupted mourning. It is the refrain of reconciliation, belated but real, between people. It is not so much the pain of loss, but rather the moment in which it is possible to laugh, sometimes , even suddenly, unwittingly, as if by magic, as if guided by a ghost, when we learn of someone's death. who accept to take their ghosts by the hand and dance with them instead of carrying them on their shoulders ”(Pierre Notte).

In the long and tiring search for a text for two actresses, which would respond to certain decisions  theatrical and dramaturgical characteristics, we came across Pierre Notte's text and immediately wanted to stage it.

Thanks to the great availability of the author and the kindness of the talented translator - Anna D'Elia - we were able to start this journey "in four": Angela, Francesca, Bernadette and Annette.

A journey into the fears of the future which, as the theater teaches, can be - if not defeated - faced through irony.

Old age, loss, grief and the past weigh heavily ; they often stiffen us, they extinguish our will to continue to give meaning to that last portion of life as well.

Annette and Bernadette seem to affirm their diversity only to nourish the eternal conflict that animates their daily life: in reality they are much more similar than it seems in the continuous exchange of arrogance and fragility, of bravado and naivety.

Above all, they will find themselves firmly accomplices in deciding to live again, to discover again and to dare what was previously unthinkable.

What will your last words be before you die, they ask each other?

Annette - Thanks for everything, see you soon

Bernadette - Thanks for everything and see you next time

The father, twenty-five years earlier, had taken his leave saying “it's okay anyway, a lot of review”.

The author, through the two petites dames, seems to suggest to us the idea of a possible return, of a death that puts us in a perennial cycle of transformation and rebirth.

We want to believe him.

Angela Malfitano and Francesca Mazza

​

Pierre Night

Pierre Notte has written for the theater since the early nineties; general secretary of the Académie française between 2006 and 2009, he is also a journalist, poet, novelist, actor, director, as well as the author of radio texts and cabaret shows.

He is a Knight of Arts and Letters and has received many awards for his work including the Molière du Théatre privé.