Neandertal [2023]

“David Geselson creates a narrative that progresses quietly and whose magnitude needs no clamour to assert its omnipotence. Instead of spectacularity, he prefers the whisper of intimacy to the clash of reality. (…) Taking hushed, strategic steps forward, [he] creates a fascinating show. While its dramaturgy is limpid, its resonances are dizzyingly complex. They ricochet off a multitude of themes: paternity and filiation, memory and forgetting, bonding and emancipation, rationality and belief. (…) David Geselson excels at allusion without getting sidetracked into equivocation. It’s an extraordinary talent.”

Joëlle Gayot – Le Monde

“Watching for common genomes between Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals… A quest that is both scientific and philosophical, skilfully directed by David Geselson, where great history and intimate wounds intertwine. (…) On stage, earth, rock, bones thousands of years old… and Mahlerian musical accents that lift the soul. (…) Here the artist affirms his theatrical research and confirms his talent for telling the great story (in this case the very, very great one…) through the most intimate wounds.”

Emmanuelle Bouchez – Télérama

“The play twirls through scientific challenges without leading us astray. A virtuoso (…) David Geselson has a particular talent for going from one thing to another without the absurdity of the situations or the association of his ideas ever seeming gratuitous. He probably achieves this because each of the actors – all of whom are excellent – plunges us into the present, into shared feelings and obsessions. (…) The dialogue never asserts any truth and does not treat the characters as mouthpieces. It is through their vulnerability and despite the impossibilities that Rosa, Lüdo, Lukas and their cohorts reveal themselves and share their doubts, at the very heart of their megalomaniac quest fraught with pitfalls, which a simple sneeze can wipe out.”

Anne Diatkine – Libération

“With the gentleness and subtlety that characterise his theatre, David Geselson enchants us, turning science into poetry.”

Thierry Fiorile – France Info

“David Geselson weaves a fascinating tale about memory, love, science, history and the way some people try to use science to reinvent history. It’s a masterfully staged story, multiplying the ways in which the audience is addressed, the twists and turns, and the scenic inventions (…) Carried by six formidable actors (…), the show also makes masterful use of the talents of cellist Jérémie Arcache and designer Marine Dillard, tirelessly creating ephemeral forms from sand.”

Jean-Marie Wynants – Le Soir

“David Geselson delivers a searing choral score that takes us from Jerusalem to Serbia via the Ukraine. Neandertal, through its characters inhabited by their fears and ideals, clashes with the eminently political issues at stake in the quest for our origins. (…) A vibrant polycephal narrative, carried along by the low tones of the cello, Neandertal weaves the fabric of a history of domination imprinted on the skin of each and every one of us. David Geselson dusts off History and sketches out the contours of the disappearance of our cousin, intimately echoing the disappearance that is hanging over our heads.”

Julie Vidal – Les Inrockuptibles

“An inventive, plural, playful theatre that passionately questions and connects us in a common narrative (…) The play creates a remarkably orchestrated theatrical score where the adventure of scientific research intertwines with the bumps of intimacy, but also with the dramas of History. (…) What is striking is the concrete and meaningful way in which the staging is woven into the relationships, into the very bodies, creating a theatre that is both playful and deeply moving, without any easy or sentimental effects, proceeding by ricochets and brushstrokes. (…) The play is a passionate and talented invitation to focus on what brings people together rather than what divides them. (…) Inspired by a joyful vitality despite the misfortunes and threats, the show is a great success.”

Agnès Santi – La Terrasse

“Neandertal investigates the doubts of identity and love. (…) Silence and secrets begin to speak, to the delight and joy of the audience. This is great, beautiful theatre.”

Amélie Blaunstein-Niddam – Toute la culture.com