Original French title: Le Grand Lodge des Ambassadeurs. Genre: Large-scale comedy of manners and social satire. Cast: 7 characters (4 M / 3 F). Estimated running time: 1 hr 30, no intermission. Set: One location only (the lobby of a small African hotel). No major technical complexity.
Is civilization soluble in fermented coconut milk?
Professor Liebnaz, a British ethnologist steeped in self-importance, travels to a shabby lodge deep in Africa to meet Chief Pumi, a supposed “fossil man” and the last witness to our origins. The expedition quickly turns into a fiasco. Confronted with Pumi’s disarming logic and the first signs of an imminent solar catastrophe, the scientist and his small team are forced into a harsh philosophical reckoning. The reversal of roles is complete: our connected West is laid bare, with all its neuroses and the absurdity of its systems.
Le Grand Lodge des Ambassadeurs offers a golden role to Professor Liebnaz, an expert figure who frees himself from his constraints (he ends up naked!), and promises a liberating laugh. It is a fast-paced, high-spirited comedy with a manageable cast.