Vernon Subutex 1

Vernon Subutex 1 alternates between a sociological fresco, a detective thriller, and an inhumane “vaudeville.” It’s a work that destabilizes, fascinates, and disturbs to the utmost degree. Published in 2015, the first part of this cult trilogy by Virginie Despentes tells the story of a record-store owner and his state of decline as he is put out of business by the digital revolution and the crisis in the music industry. His friend Alex Bleach, a rock musician, dies from an overdose and leaves him some recordings as an inheritance. They become the focus of a thriller where vultures and humans weakened by unrelenting market concerns are brought together and where they are driven to the edge of a precipice by the death of close friends and disastrous lovers.

At the book’s centre is an anti-hero with an enigmatic name: Vernon Subutex, an incredibly talented DJ unfit for living in his era. He ends up itinerant and then later turns out to be the redeemer of a society in search of meaning in a world that’s become inhabitable.

Recipient of the Prix de la meilleure mise en scène 2022 awarded by the Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre (AQCT).

The full version of Vernon Subutex 1+2+3 is presented at Le Diamant on October 5.

About Angela Konrad

An artist presented many times at Usine C and founder of the company LA FABRIK, Angela Konrad skillfully tackles strong classic and contemporary texts with an activist bent in order to highlight their relevancy and their often controversial qualities. After her adaptations of Chekhov, Shakespeare and Rodrigo Garcia and her investigations of transhumanism and anti-capitalism, she has now taken on French author Virginie Despentes’s cult book Vernon Subutex by adapting it into a theatrical trilogy.

About Virginie Despentes

A socially engaged French writer with an uncontrollable style, Virginie Despentes is the author of works including Baise-moi (1993, adapted to film and co-directed with Coralie Trinh Thi), Pretty Things (1998), Teen Spirit (2002), Bye Bye Blondie (2004, adapted to film by the author), King Kong Theory (2006), and Apocalypse Baby (2010, Prix Renaudot).