The Orderly Old Man (Le veil homme rangé)

First production at Antwerp, the 14th of Janury 1999, by RaamTeater of Een opgeruimde ouwe heer, in a Dutch version translated by Willem Tillemans, with Katrien De ecker and Roger Van Kerpel, directed by Julienne De Bruyn.
First production at Spa, the 4th of August 1999 by the Jean Vilar Theatre Workshop (l'Atelier Théâtre Jean Vilar), with René Hainaux and Fanny Delbrice, directed by Michel Wright, in a Festival of Spa co-production.

2002	Paris, hosted at the Théâtre de l'Oeuvre

Translations
Dutch : Walter Tillemans

Synopsis
A young woman is sorting out the books, clothes and belongings of her father, who isappeared a year previously. He appears suddenly, as if nothing had happened.
In this verbal duel between a father and his daughter, and despite an ever present tension, the gulf between their aspirations and their regrets is little by little filled in, thanks to the apt and precise words the author knows the secret of.
It is impossible to remain unmoved by this meeting between history and the present, by this set to between generations where the need for love and communication remain cruelly far from being realised.

Extract

Henri	In writing novels I create children.
Jeanne	I understand.
Henri	You don't yet.
Jeanne	When I will be old?
Henri	When you will remember the snowman you never made with your children. (one beat) When you left to go to school, in the morning... Do you remember? When you left I used to say 'WORK HARD'. I never said 'I LOVE YOU'. There are some things that just go without saying that one forgets that they have to be said everyday...
Jeanne	Is it easier to write them?

Press
« There are no effects here, just the impeccable mechanism of a proven theatrical language effective to the last comma » Philippe Tirard, La Libre Belgique

« Jean-Pierre Dopagne, the author of 'The Teacher', here offers us his best play to date; he gives weight to complete silences and says much with few words » Sophie Creuz, L'Echo

« Everything rings true in a punchy dialogue not lacking a cynical and biting humour » Luc Brunclair, Le Jour-Le Courrier