Le Petit Théâtre Sydney is gearing up to deliver big laughs with Le Prénom (What’s in a Name?), the beloved French comedy where a casual dinner among friends spirals into a hilarious showdown. Director Marine Grangier lifts the curtain on this dynamic adaptation – a mixture of the original script and clever nods to the film, with lines that have the cast cracking up at every rehearsal.
Marine Grangier, Le Petit Théâtre Sydney is presenting the French play Le Prénom (What’s in a name?) in Sydney at the end of this month. Tell us a little about this play.
Le Prénom is a comical play that plunges us behind doors into the favourite activities of the French: eating and debating. Five friends are gathered around a Moroccan dinner when one of them decides to make a joke that gets out of hand and sweeps everything up in its wake…
Why did you choose this play?
Le Prénom is a cult film that is very well known and loved by French audiences and very accessible to English-speaking audiences. The themes are universal, the characters colourful, the revelations explosive, and the script hilarious. As it’s a film set behind closed doors, it’s relatively easy to stage from a logistical and visual point of view, since the sets and costumes don’t change!
The film co-written and co-directed by Alexandre de La Patellière et Matthieu Delaporte, who are also the authors of the play. How is the film different to the play Le Prénom?
The film is different from the play in that it not only contains more characters (the play only has 5) but also flashbacks that explain the relationships between the characters (replaced by a narrator in the play). I drew inspiration from both for our adaptation, mainly the play’s text (without a narrator) to which I added some particularly well-written passages from the film.
In fact, last year you staged a play that had also been adapted into a film: 8 femmes. Do you look for films that come from plays? Or is it just by chance?
Not necessarily, but it’s true that plays that have been adapted into films always have the advantage of being better known. We had a large majority of women in the troupe last year, so 8 Femmes was the obvious choice, and after the success of that production we thought that another cult French film would allow us to continue in the same vein.
As always, the play is accessible to English speakers thanks to the surtitles. Did the play already exist in English or did you do the translation yourself?
We do all our own translations. We’re lucky enough to have a chief translator and subtitler in Michael, one of the founders of the association, who is just as fluent in English as he is in French. Translating is one thing, but adapting the subtitles is what requires the most time and precision in order to maximise reading comfort for the audience.
The play Le Prénom has some sharp retorts – were there any challenges in translating them?
These are Michael’s favourite lines! He loves to debate the meaning of words and their significance in order to find the most faithful translation. There’s a particularly difficult passage to translate in this play (a nickname to be exact without giving too much away…) and I can’t wait to find out how Michael will adapt it.
Will audiences recognise the actors and actresses (Xavier Barthélemy, Céline Heu, Olivier Lejus, Zayn Ghonem, Elisa Tran-Dinh) from your other productions?
Xavier, Celine, Olivier and Elisa were all in our last production Hors Tempo and Celine and Elisa were both in 8 Femmes. For long-time fans, Zayn was in Le Nombril a few years ago and Céline is also part of season 2 of the French Comedy Club which is currently playing at Potts Point Hotel.
Who would most enjoy this play?
That’s the beauty of this play, it’s really for all audiences! There’s never a dull moment and, above all, you can’t stop laughing! We’ve been rehearsing for over a month now, and the actors have had to say their lines dozens of times in that time, and they always have to take it upon themselves not to laugh at certain lines!
Why should people come to see Le Prénom (What’s in a name?)?
For its frenetic pace, hilarious lines, moving monologues and explosive revelations! Or simply to have a (filter-free) time with friends in Paris!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
The Friday and Saturday performances always fill up first, so we’d advise anyone interested to book as soon as possible and not to wait until Thursday 29 to book, as there will probably be no places left! We always end the season with a full waiting list of people who have unfortunately missed their chance.
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KEY INFO FOR LE PRÉNOM / WHAT’S IN A NAME?
WHAT: Le Prénom (What’s in a name?) by the Petit Théâtre Sydney, a play in French with English surtitles
WHEN: 27 to 31 May 2025, at 7pm
WHERE: PACT Theatre, ERSKINEVILLE
HOW: Buy your tickets via this link
HOW MUCH: Tickets for the 27 May are $27. Tickets for the other dates cost $39.
For other events with links to France and the Francophonie happening in Australia this month, check out our What’s on in May
