The flight of Eva Rami

‍

‍

‍

As a child, she lived in the school run by her father in Aspremont, in the Nice hinterland, where introductory theater courses were offered. ”I spent the day looking forward to looking at the hands of the clock.” There she discovers new sensations: to make people laugh, to move, to listen to others and to no longer be yourself: ”It feels great to get out of yourself. Even today, when I play characters, I feel capable of anything, I can shout, scream, be the worst of the worst, I can kill, die, and then be reborn... It's a hell of a catharsis... This job literally saved me. It is wonderful to be able to sublimate and transcend your sorrows. It is an outlet, a form of therapy and a form of self-building aid.”

From the seven-year-old girl who made her family and friends laugh by imitating Elie Kakou - her idol - to the committed actress of today, there is a path of nine years of theater training, after a few years of studying law and philosophy in order to “please dad”. She then entered the Nice Conservatory, then the École Supérieure d'Art Dramatique de Paris, directed by Jean-Claude Cotillard. She collaborates with various groups: Collective 8, Compagnie Maelstrom, she is directed by Irina Brook and works for the collective La Machine in Nice, with which she plays four plays directed by Félicien Chauveau. Then, she joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique de Paris. It was there that she began writing her first solo on stage “Vole! ”: ”I knew I had to write for myself because the phone wasn't going to ring by itself. Although at first I thought about writing a stand-up, I quickly realized when I wrote that it was not only going to be funny, but also moving and poetic.” The play is an autofiction on the theme of a woman's flight with her avatar, Elsa Ravi, in the main role, in the lead role, surrounded by a plethora of characters who mark her life and whom she plays, including her parents. ”When I presented it in 2014 at the exit of the Théâtre National, Emmanuel Besnault, director of the L'Éternel Été company, came to see me, moved. He told me: do you have someone to help you? Because if you want, I'll produce for you!" So Eva Rami presents “Fly! ” at Théâtre 95, directed by Marc Ernotte, which quickly became the revelation of the OFF festival in Avignon in 2016. ”My father was in the lighting department and my mother was in the hauling business. It was so moving to see my dad jot down my instructions, when a few years ago it was me in his class, sitting, writing under his dictation.” After Avignon, Eva played a series of roles in various creations and she decided in 2018 to present the second opus of her only one on stage. It will be “You are you! ”, written in eight months, commissioned by Françoise Nahon, organizer of the “Femmes en Scène” festival in Nice. She presented it at the city's National Theater, again a success. This time, she confronts her stage alter ego Elsa Ravi with a family look at her acting career, where it is so difficult to find her place. Eva, full of energy, sings, dances, imitates, passing from one character to another with remarkable speed, moves to tears, just as she creates bursts of laughter, in a declaration of hope to life.

Prepared during the health crisis, the third part of this trilogy of Alone on Stage takes ten years to come out and reveals its greatest silence. In 2023, “Go love it! ”, an anagram of her name, played in Paris and Avignon, and soon at the Théâtre de La Pin Paris, then on tour in France, reveals a new intimate facet of the main character Elsa Ravi, surrounded by 18 characters she plays, and who accompany her in her liberating confession, which is a fictional trial where the main character confronts her attackers and those of the women around her. ”I had to do something about this suffering that was eating me up, and that was a lifesaver. Each character I play, whether it's my father, my psychological mother, my Italian grandmother, my therapist, my friends... allows me, with humor or emotion, to change my voice, my body, helps me to release words and revelations. This last part of the triptych is the story of a woman's quest to free herself to build herself, to finally learn to love. Every time I play it on stage and receive love from the audience, messages of support, similar testimonies, I feel useful and committed. By addressing the topic of consent and the status of women, I want to empower all those who want to let go of their traumas and make peace with themselves. I also want to pay tribute to the whole team that surrounds me in this show: my faithful accomplice Luc Khiar in the light, my musical creation companion Fils de Flûte, then Camille Boujot, Alice Carré, Emmanuel Besnault, Audrey Vallarino, Aurore Lane, Valentin Perrin. ”

Last May, “Go love it! ” won the Molière for best Seul en scène, opposite Ludivine Seigner for “Consent”, Dominique Blanc for “Pain” and Franck Desmedt for “Kessel” “I had planned a short note because I said to myself, if this happens to me, I will have an organ transplant, which is happening... I have a tender thought for the little girl that I was, the one who killed herself for years, the one who thought that to be loved, you had to accept everything. There is still a long way to get out of denial both personally and socially. The lines are moving, the ramparts are rising against violence against women and children thanks to our testimonies”, said Eva, moved and surprised, live on France 2, during her award. ”This Molière is my childhood dream come true, I who thought that this prize was reserved for an elite. And now, I embrace her as much as I move on, so as not to be tested by the pressure that it puts on for the future. But the planets are aligned, and I want to see movies, to meet new teams, new families, one of the reasons why I do this job. I played in “Never Admit” with Sabine Azéma and André Dussollier, “The Imaginary Molière” by Olivier Py with Laurent Lafitte, I will play in a series, then in 2025 I will be in “Le Banquet” by Plato directed by Nicolas Liautard, in addition to the tour of “Va Aimer!”. This work requires a lot of concessions, asceticism, and living in Paris. As soon as I can, I come to recharge my batteries on my Côte d'Azur that I love so much, between Nice and Guillaumes, my aunt's village. As soon as I land, I feel my sternum calm down. I sit in nature, surrounded by tall poplars, I close my eyes and my mind flies away.”

“Go love it! ”, starting on September 23 at the Théâtre la Ppinière, in Paris, and on tour throughout France. All dates on https://evarami.fr/

‍

‍

Photo cover: © Valentin Perrin

Photo credits: © Gaëlle Simon