Review: FRENCH 101 by Laura De Ryver at The Hen and Chickens Theatre 1 – 3 August 2022

‘… this lesson certainly brings tears of laughter’ ★★★ ½

There is a chance that not everyone’s experiences of learning French at school brings tears of joy to their eyes, but this lesson certainly brings tears of laughter. Writer/performer Laura De Ryver and director Sara Reimers do a good job of delivering exactly what they promise in the blurb.

The French teacher (who is actually Belgian) teaches us many things about the French language, and not all of them relate to sex (but most do). It’s quite understandable because she clearly has issues with her x-boyfriend, Jean Pierre. It’s a huge bitterness which she works through in a series of asides during the lesson to a triumphant finale.  Along the way we learn facts (and who doesn’t love facts) about the French language including their favourite swear word (which doesn’t translate to f**k).

Just as in the real thing, we are the students, who are invited to give answers (winning a sticker never tasted sweeter now we are all grown-up and it is much easier). Surprisingly, we don’t know all the answers, who knew there were 27 French speaking countries, or that ‘oh la la’ doesn’t have a sexual connotation. A volunteer audience member demonstrated the correct usages of the phrase extremely well. On the night, this person must have been an actor (brilliant stuff) but on another night this could work with even more hilarity with someone who f**ks it up. 

The gender equality stuff was a little bit on the nose (but we are in classroom mode), and what we take from the lesson isn’t life changing, but it is a very entertaining show. Early teens would love it, but the audience, mainly in their 20s and 30s lapped it up, with the men guffawing loudly and the women agreeing with the French teachers disgust with gender inequality (and her annoyance with Jean Pierre).  

Whilst the feminism was absolutely on pointe, other people might find the show touched upon another chord. The adolescent sex lesson you’d always wished you’d had with your hot French teacher.

Part of Camden Fringe

Production: French 101 (F*ck You Jean-Pierre)

Dates: 1-3 August

Location: Hen & Chickens Theatre

Tickets: £10

Box Office https://camden.ssboxoffice.com/events/french-101/

Written by and performed by Laura De Ryver

Directed by Sara Reimers

Technical Design by Venus Raven

Produced by Nevertheless Theatre Company

Website: www.neverthelesstheatrecompany.co.uk

Twitter: @NeverthelessTC

Reviewed by Heather Jeffery