Pierre Tran

Pierre Tran, a journalist and committed dilettante, lives in Paris’s 17th arrondissement, but not the upmarket side, the bobo part or Les Epinettes.

Irish Cultural Center

February 8, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

TO BE IRISH IN PARIS With Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17) soon upon us, here’s a reminder that one of the brightest jewels of Paris is the Irish Cultural Center, just a shamrock’s throw from the mighty Pantheon in the … Read More

New & Une Cerise Noire

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

Camping It Up in Improv’ andGenre-Bending Slapstick Cast members of the New improv’ company singing their hearts out. For fans of the anything-but-the-proscenium arch, the improvising New company is offering a musical on the hoof at the Theatre de la … Read More

New York Comedy Night

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

The Funny Side ofPlanet France Sebastian Marx applies his comic talents to cultural translation. If you are in town on a Friday night and want a witty dissection of life on planet France, Sebastian Marx’s New Yorker in Paris comedy … Read More

Finnegans Wake

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

From Swerve of Shore to Bend of Bay Sharif Andoura in Finnegan’s Wake at Paris’s Théâtre de l’Aquarium. Photo: Hervé Bellamy. Let the record show that I was somewhat worried about going to see James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake – not … Read More

My Fair Lady

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

PYGMALION IN PARIS Photo © Marie-Noëlle Robert – Théâtre du Châtelet When Eliza Doolittle (Sarah Gabriel alternating with Christine Arand) sings “I Could Have Danced All Night,” pure musical magic fills the stage, accomplishing the mission of Jean-Luc Choplin, director … Read More

Un Fil à la Patte

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

French playwright Georges Feydeau specialized in a certain kind of humor that not everyone finds funny. Photo: Brigitte Enguérand A funny thing, humor. Either you get it or you don’t. Any amount of explanation or learned commentary is to no … Read More

Show Boat

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

Show Boat not only incorporates comedy, romance, and dance numbers, but also a political disquisition on slavery, racism and more. Photo: Malin Arnesson If you have a pulse that beats and a heart that feels, a lump will come to … Read More

Trahisons/Betrayal

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

Left to right: Alexis Victor as Jerry, Sacha Petronijevic as Robert and Delphine Lalizout as Emma in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal. Harold Pinter in French is surely a non sequitur. A few playwrights – Alan Bennett, John Osborne and Tom Stoppard … Read More

Récits de Femmes

February 7, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

Sylvain Savard as Massimo, husband of the long-suffering Antonia, played by Lou Tordjman. Photo © Compagnie Idéale As soon as I heard the tunefully sung opening to Récits de Femmes, I was hooked. I confess I went to the Théâtre … Read More

La Ronde

January 1, 2010 | By Pierre Tran | Archive

This production turns Schnitzler’s play into broad comedy. La Ronde, playing at the Theatre de Poche, Montparnasse, is a shouty, camp and slickly staged production that left me largely cold, even though it yielded up … Favorite