The End of Eddy

The End of Eddy, written by Edouard Louis and directed by Elias Adam, focuses on the intersections of class and sexuality. It is a coming-of-age story of a boy growing up poor and gay in the French countryside. Dealing with forms of oppression which lead to shame and eventually treason, the play is an autobiography of Edouard Louis and encapsulates the famous feminist quote personal is political. The show appropriates queer and pop culture, in and attempt to create new narratives and reclaim the story of queer bodies on stage. It is a picture of homosexuality in poor rural areas, therefore redefines and “decentralises” the queer narrative. 

 

Edouard Louis with his book The End of Eddy explores what happens when structural class inequality meets homophobia, sexism and racism. This show is a provocative comment on politics, viewed through the lens of a queer perspective. The dramaturgy goes beyond the narration of the individual “faggot’s” trauma to a presentation of how the gay identity is socially forged through violence, oppression, denial and misdirected anger. The End of Eddy reclaims the invisible stories of queer bodies and creates intersectional narratives. The two performers playing Eddy Belleguelle tell the story in an arrestingly surreal atmosphere that builds bridges from the personal to the political. The stand-out element of this post-dramatic play is the calm, non-representative way with which the two performers narrate scenes of scathing brutality. Scenes of raw violence are intermixed with drag performances, new-age Athenian queer music and obscene, metá humour. The sold-out performances in the National Theatre of Greece were widely acclaimed by audience and critics.

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The play is currently being re-worked to be shown in Prague and in Athens in May 2022.