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Critics at Large

"Rousing and inventive"

Director Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota on contemporary political relevance of ‘State of Siege’ at Zellerbach Hall

"Although it is a very dark play, I believe it actually evokes a world of beauty, of the power of love, the necessity for us to find meaning in life through engagement and resistance as we confront our worst fears."

San Francisco Chronicle

"Demarcy-Mota’s tension never relents...a paean to the madmen of the world, to their courage, their perceptiveness, their generosity. For the rest of us, it’s a spur to be madder."

LE MONDE

“The play is an allegory of the contamination of a fascist ideology to which Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota gives great theatrical strength." 

"beautifully staged and well thought, bending towards tragic grotesque."

"The ensemble includes two exceptional stage monsters, Serge Maggiani and, above all, Hugues Quester, who has no equal to instill a razor blade anxiety and strangeness.”

TELERAMA

“Under the vigorous direction of Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, Camus’ play -a metaphor of a liberticidal and totalitarian power- is enhanced.”

LES ECHOS

“There is talent on stage: Serge Maggiani pitches at lib a Demonic Plague. The blond Philippe Demarle imposes his ambiguous charisma in the role of the nihilist Nada, and the dark haired Matthieu Dessertine embodies a lyric and boosted Diego with great style.”

SCENEWEB

“A stunning Kafkaesque spiral. A generous and swirling staging.”

TOUTE LA CULTURE

“Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, in a spectacular form that occupies the whole theatrical space, features Albert Camus' State of Siege, a rarely mounted and particularly alarming piece in the current political context."

"With exalted lyricism, Hannah Levin Seidermann and Matthieu Dessertine, cursed lovers filled with fiery youth and beauty, proclaim their love stronger than evil.”

LA VIE

“Inspiring. In this glacial adaptation, Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota directs a people in a most violent but also realistic descent into hell. The only rampart against dictatorship is courage.”

ARTE

“Camus remains very contemporary"

"State of Siege is one of Albert Camus' less known plays, and yet it remains of a burning reality in these times of triumphant security and government by fear.”