The return of Le Soulier de satin (The Satin Slipper) to the theater? An event like no other. More than 20 years have passed since Paul Claudel's play was last performed. What was to become of it in the hands of director Eric Ruf? An ode to mysticism, a celebration of the written word, a global odyssey? At the Comédie-Française, all of these readings emerge, and all of them bow to the obvious: It is the body (of actors and characters) that exults to the point of provoking a standing ovation from the audience.

As he prepares to step down in August 2025 from the directorship he has held for 11 years, Ruf can be proud of the work he has accomplished. With this performance of exemplary clarity, he bids farewell, head held high, to a troupe whose talent he magnifies with a tribute combining ambition and humility. With its extraordinary length (eight and a half hours, interspersed with two intermissions and a long pause), his Soulier imposes its sensuality on the bare aridity of the Salle Richelieu: A dark setting on which the presence of actors superbly dressed by Christian Lacroix is imprinted.

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