Gazon·Neve cie

En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule

Édouard Louis / Jessica Gazon

“The End of Eddy” is a stage adaptation of Édouard Louis’s debut novel, brought to life by Jessica Gazon and actresses from northern France.

Like a modern-day ugly duckling tale, the performance traces the painful journey of young Eddy Bellegueule in a village in Picardy in the early 2000s.

Rejected and harassed, Eddy grows up at the heart of a large family in a precarious environment, where exhausting labor and working-class jobs wear down both bodies and minds. It is a world where, for lack of means, ambitions are constantly lowered, and where “one strives to put others beneath oneself in order not to be at the very bottom of the social ladder.” A world, too, where social roles are rigidly defined by gender: boys must be “tough,” and “faggots” are despised. And Eddy is one of them.

He tries in vain to be like everyone else, but “you don’t change that easily.” Faced with his inability to meet the expectations of those around him, he longs, with all his might, to escape: his family, his home, his village. Through persistence and cunning, he ultimately breaks free, outwitting the social determinism that once seemed to define his fate.

The crime lies not in actions, but in being and above all, in seeming.

Company presentation

The Gazon·Neve Company is a Brussels-based theatre company that brings together, among others, the projects of Jessica Gazon. The works developed within the company typically draw on societal taboos as a driving force for performance, channeling the desires and anger of the creative teams into a shared artistic language that fosters a dynamic of co-creation.

gazonneve.be/projets/eddy-belle-gueule

Jessica Gazon - Director

Born in Verviers into an anarchist, eco-conscious and unconventional family, Jessica Gazon began developing company-based work as early as 2009. Shaped by a series of improbable, accidental, and sometimes decisive encounters, their artistic path is marked by constant mutation and transition.Their projects are generally composed of autofictional material and devised theatre, and seek to question the limits of representation through both humor and political engagement. Their work also focuses on adapting novels by autofiction writers such as Camille Laurens, Édouard Louis, and Mathilde Forget. Their productions have been performed across Belgium, including at Théâtre de la Balsamine, Théâtre Varia and Théâtre Jean Vilar.

Recently appointed associated artist at the Théâtre des Martyrs, their current focus is on creating human-centered artistic experiences in which both creative practices and care for the team are central to the process, bringing together gentleness, joy and rigor.

Jessica Gazon also co-organized the collective reflection series “Pouvoirs et Dérives” at La Bellone, an initiative aimed at examining the various forms of violence within the performing arts sector in Belgium.

Édouard Louis - Writer

Édouard Louis, born in 1992 in Hallencourt, is a French writer and sociologist whose work is deeply shaped by his childhood in a working-class environment in northern France.
He rose to prominence in 2014 with En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule, an autobiographical debut in which he recounts his difficult upbringing. Two years later, he published Histoire de la violence, inspired by a violent assault he experienced.
In 2018, he continued his exploration of social violence with Qui a tué mon père, a deeply moving text about his father and the devastating impact of public policies on the working classes. Three years later, he paid tribute to his mother in Combats et métamorphoses d’une femme, portraying her struggle for emancipation in the face of poverty and domestic violence.
With L’Effondrement, published in 2024, Édouard Louis turns his attention to his older brother, who died at the age of 38. Driven by dreams of social mobility, his brother ultimately collided with the harsh realities of his environment, gradually descending into alcohol abuse and gambling.
A major figure in contemporary literature, Édouard Louis is regularly invited to speak at conferences, and his works are widely studied in universities.

Distribution

Adaptation Jessica Gazon, with the valued contribution of the creative team
Performance Janie Follet, Sophie Jaskulski, Louise Manteau, François Maquet
Costumes & Props Élise Abraham
Sound Design Ségolène Neyroud
Technical Direction & Scenographic Eye Aurélie Perret
Technical Direction & Lighting Design Aurore Leduc
Stage Management Aurélie Perret, Aurore Leduc, Alexis Auffray
Dramaturgy Thibaut Nève
Video Design Jérôme Guiot
Set Construction & Scenography Assistance Aurélie Borremans & Nicolas Olivier

Production

Executive Production Gazon·Neve Company
Co-Productions MARS – Mons Arts de la Scène; Maison de la Culture de Tournai / Maison de création; Théâtre de L’Ancre; Atelier 210; Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Service Théâtre; La Coop asbl; Shelter Prod
Support Les Brigittines; taxshelter.be; ING; the Belgian Federal Government Tax Shelter; Théâtre des Doms

In the press

“One by one, the performers embody Eddy and his world with remarkable precision, moving with subtlety between fragility and harshness. The scenes unfold with great sensitivity, where shame, anger, tenderness, and desire intertwine in a deeply moving bouquet of emotions. A text of striking depth, brilliantly brought to the stage.”

Louis Thiébaut - RTBF

“Jessica Gazon brings Édouard Louis’s autobiographical novel to the stage. Its spirit of revolt against social deprivation remains intact, along with the violence, racism, and homophobia that stem from it. Four outstanding performers take turns portraying the young Eddy.”

Catherine Makereel- Le Soir

“Cruel, joyful, and necessary.”

Françoise Nice - l’Asymptomatique

“By transcending violence, the play ultimately moves the audience with its tenderness and boldness. It also offers a glimmer of hope, hinting at the possibility of an escape. Funny at times, deeply moving at others, the play stands out as an essential and powerful work of insight, particularly for young audiences.”

Andreas Pauls - Le Suricate

“Jessica Gazon manages to take a story that is inherently self-centered and make it universal, turning it into much more than just autofiction. And even though the story is harrowing (at times terrifying), the performance is infused with a joy and a humor that is often biting. We laugh a lot. But be warned: not ”at“ the characters, but ‘with’ them.

Éric Russon - L'Écho