Play for Eternity

"For Eternity", a play to discover at the Pierre Tabard theater on Thursday, November 5th at 6 PM. The performance will be followed by a discussion with the descendants of Hélène Berr and Odile Neuburger. Free entry with reservation.
The play For Eternity, directed by Eric Bouvron, tells the story of Hélène Berr and Odile Neuburger, two young Jewish girls with intertwined fates, who will take us on a journey through their world, from carefree innocence to grave reality. An exquisitely delicate journey crafted from Hélène Berr's diary between 1942 and 1944, and her correspondence with Odile from 1934 to 1944.
Two very cheerful young girls, Hélène and her best friend Odile, dressed like model girls in soft attire, welcome us on stage; they are thirteen years old and have their whole lives ahead of them. It is July 16, 1934: humor, wit, and vanity are their only daily concerns.

Through a beautiful mailbox, the object of all their confidences, they exchange a rich correspondence that testifies to their deep friendship and complicity, born from freedom in a shared culture at the dawn of their romantic lives where jealousy might just rear its head.
A correspondence that witnesses the clash between the intimate and the tragic that binds them forever: the Holocaust

As we become attached to their comforting freshness, the heartbreaking shift towards horror will be all the more difficult. 1942, the year of all dangers: History cuts and separates them. Odile follows her family to the free zone. As for Hélène, she consciously chooses to stay in Paris with her family: to stay is to resist.

Their correspondence changes tone, from light-hearted banter, it becomes an act of resistance against the growing persecution of Nazism, with its disastrous episode, the climax of barbarity, that of the Vel d'Hiv roundup, all while maintaining their dignity.
Eric Bouvron's minimalist staging is luminous, without fuss. It gives space to the text, its impactful words, to the voice and body of Virginie Bienaimée and Manon Leroy, two actresses deeply connected to their story. A narrative of rare elegance that transcends the simple framework of the duty of memory in its living tribute to friendship, which neither distance nor barbarity could erase.
(The presentation text above was written by lebilletdebruno and published on Overblog on July 5, 2026).

This project is supported by the Montpellier association for humanist and secular Judaism (AMJHL), with the support of the City of Montpellier, as part of the initiative "Cities Embracing Jewish Heritage" led by the European Association for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage. The AEPJ invites cities to explore love as a bridge between cultures and communities, highlighting empathy, common values, and dialogue beyond differences.

• Location: Théâtre Beaux-Arts Tabard – 17 rue Ferdinand Fabre - Montpellier

• Date: November 5, 2026

• Time: 6 PM

• Free entry subject to availability

• Reservation required by email: assoamjhl@gmail.com

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