The hectic life of Brigitte Tornade tackles the theme of gender inequality. What did confinement inspire in you?

This period illustrated what I wanted to show in The hectic life of Brigitte Tornade. During confinement, the mental load increased 100-fold.
For women first and foremost, but men also experienced it.

On a personal note, I realized how quiet I normally work. During the lockdown, it felt like a total invasion, with the constant noise of family life or a video meeting in the next room.

With France Culture, we wondered about a special confinement edition, given the extent to which domestic life had intruded into the world of work. But some very dark things happened during the health crisis, such as domestic violence and violence against women. I was afraid I wouldn't find the right lightness of tone.

I thought a lot about Virginia Woolf's phrase: "A woman must have (...) a room of her own if she is to write fiction".

I experienced the confinement as an absence of intellectual privacy. I was too overwhelmed by what was going on to create. We were in a state of immediacy, whereas writing takes time and maturation. This will be a source of inspiration later...

The "next world" calls for a new way of doing things. In your opinion, how can we take advantage of this period to improve workplace relations and management?

A bit like in the theater, everyone takes on a role at work, not the same as at home or in their relationship. On the positive side, the confinement brought down the masks and brought all these characters together. We used to hear that real life was private. Today, a great many of us appreciate the return to work. To take Brigitte Tornade's example, when returning from maternity leave, on the one hand there's a perfectly natural anxiety, and on the other, the liberation of seeing colleagues again, adults who speak normally, and finding oneself in a way.

Containment has highlighted the fact that we're not just employees, or just moms and dads. I sometimes do portraits for companies, and I'm struck by the extent to which we're dealing with individual stories. I remember an employee of a chemical company. She was telling me about her childhood in the Landes region, the flowers she used to pick to mix with the sap from the pine trees. It was incredible, she was not only telling me about her childhood, but also about her job!

"Each individual brings his or her own story to the table, and that's what makes a company so rich. It seems to me that, for companies, one way to bounce back is to welcome employees in all their complexity."

We've just experienced the lack of entertainment. How can culture, theater and comedy help?

Comedy is fundamental to our society, and we need that offbeat look. Theaters have the power to touch us in our intimacy and bring together an audience made up of individuals. Radio too. The intimacy of the voice that enters the room and speaks to us is very universal. Culture brings people together. That's why we need to make it more accessible.

You went from writing a successful radio column to writing a successful play. What advice would you like to share?

Even if the world of culture doesn't like comparisons with that of business, writing and entrepreneurship have uncertainty in common. Every day, you have to come up with new projects. In this, I feel close to the entrepreneur. From January to June, I'm afraid I won't make it through the year, and from July to December, I'm afraid I won't make it through the following year!

The idea of the "next world" is all about innovation, creation and invention. In the process of artistic creation, the author oscillates between the anguish of the blank page, the impression of starting from nothing or, on the contrary, the awareness of the soil and experience on which to build something.

"As entrepreneurs, we share the same solitude and sense of danger. Creation touches on the intimate and exposes us to the gaze of others. It's a worrying and exhilarating leap into the void. You never know where creation will take you, it's a bit beyond you.

I see another similarity between writing and the world of work, and that's the difficulty of stepping outside one's own box. It has a lot to do with the messages we're sent. When La vie trépidante de Brigitte Tornade was adapted into a comic strip, the publishing house hired an adapter, even though I would have been perfectly capable of doing so. In recruitment, it's the same thing. Very often, the candidate is expected to have already done everything and to cover all aspects of the job.

I'm also a children's author, and 95% of my income comes from royalties. When I started writing for radio, I had my doubts, because it's a specific kind of writing. But I finally got the hang of it, and Brigitte Tornade was a big hit.

"Paradoxically, the world of work requires us to be bold and take risks, but when it comes to recruiting, this boldness and risk-taking aren't always there.. "

When the idea of adapting Brigitte Tornade for the stage came up, I hesitated, but finally took the plunge. I said to myself: " I know how to adapt my writing, how to strike the right tone, because it's basically the same job, whatever the medium. You have to be more daring and stop limiting yourself. This is particularly true for women.

Is creativity also a springboard for individuals in the face of crisis?

It was a time of heroism for healthcare workers, but also for less visible professions. Cashiers, garbage collectors and public service workers are heroes. The usefulness of each individual was revealed to everyone: immediate usefulness, and sometimes social usefulness. This was the case with the reopening of schools, which, by re-socializing children, also enabled parents to return to work. On the whole, people have surpassed themselves. They were innovative at every level, with a great sense of duty. The medical trains between the Grand Est and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions, for example, worked thanks to the involvement of ARS agents, nursing staff and SNCF agents. A fine illustration of what a company can achieve in terms of solidarity, but also in terms of technical expertise and innovation.

What's in it for you? 

I was touched by the recognition of the audience in the theater, then that of the profession through the Molière. The hectic life of Brigitte Tornade is a collective success. A large number of people rallied around this text. I started out on my own, and it turned out to be a great undertaking.

Undoubtedly, Molière's lack of self-assurance is being cured. In writing, there's always the question of legitimacy. The Molière allows me to say: " This is a real profession ". What's more, texts by female authors are less performed than those by male authors.

"It's a source of pride. Even if nothing can be taken for granted because no one is waiting for us. Everything has to be recreated. Like an entrepreneur, you have to start from scratch.

I'm delighted that this subject has brought so many people together, and not just women. On the radio, the series has been a real hit with listeners, who are often men, by the way. After all, there's no reason why a play about family life should be considered a purely female subject, is there?