A play of dark fetishes

Throughout Europe Michel Tournier is seen as a great French novelist who has won several awards such as the Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie Française in 1967 for his Friday, or, The Other Island and the Prix Goncourt for The Erl-King in 1970.

A much-discussed piece of work is The Fetishist, that highlights mankind’s secret yearnings and sense of destiny. Through 14 independent eerie tales that reveal dark sensual desires, Tournier demonstrates what a literary artist can do in the concentrated form of the story, tale or novella.

Whether he stylises a concrete situation or derives plots from an abstract, Tournier produces dramatic narratives whose impact is directly related to the economy of means. The “knot of hatred” that leads a dwarf to kill the beautiful woman whose lover he has become, the obsession with women’s underwear that leads the fetishist to acts of violence, the lethal artistic experiments of the photographer are some of the situations the French novelist exploits to illustrate how the literary craft can at the same time protect and tame an omnipresent irrationality.

Exploring the tales further and bringing them to life is a theatre production directed by Nikos Armaos. Performances kick off on January 31 for just two nights in Nicosia.

The Fetishist
Theatre production based on Michel Tournier’s novel of short stories. January 31 – February 1. Melina Merkouri Hall, Nicosia. 8.30pm. In Greek. €13 / €12. Tel: 70001947

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