Macho, Swine, Demigod

Play by Brian McAvera

Performances: 19 February 2005 & 3 March 2005

Theme of the performance:

It is about his circle, his entourage, which grew over the years. Before your

mind’s eye appear: Max Jacob, Apollinaire, Braque, Kahnweiler, Matisse and Gary Cooper.
What moved this man? When Fernande leaves their shared flat with a mere 11 francs, barely 24 hours later he runs off to Céret with Eva Gouel. His only proof of love for Eva are the words “Ma Jolie”, written into numerous paintings. There is not a single realistic portrait of her. After being rebuffed by the self-assured Gaby Lespinasse, he marries the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova. A week before his death he writes to Marie-Thérèse: “You were the only woman I ever loved”, while Jacqueline Roque sits at his deathbed. With Dora Maar he goes to the limits of his own and her personal and artistic capacities. He proposes to Françoise Gilot; four weeks later he secretly marries Jacqueline Roque. You will find the answers in the accounts of our eight protagonists, who afterwards, following the rules of a press conference, answer the audience’s questions about themselves.