Fear and Trembling by Layla Metssitane

Led by French artist Layla Metssitane, this one woman show is based on the book Stupeur et Tremblements by Belgian best-selling author Amélie Nothomb.

This performance is adapted, directed, and interpreted by Layla Metssitane from Amélie Nothomb’s novel Stupeur et Tremblements – Édition Albin Michel Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie Française 1999.

Presented in French with English subtitles

Winter 1990. In Brussels, Amélie Nothomb has finished her studies in medieval roman philology. She decides to travel back to Japan in order to work, a country she knows since she was born there. She gets a one year work contract for the Yumimoto company. This job, more than she hoped for, will bring her many surprises, from which she will learn various lessons… The main character is, of course, Amélie Nothomb herself, who writes autobiographically.

Duration: 1h15mn

Why Show Fear and Trembling? In Layla Metssitane’s words:

“In Lettres Persanes, Montesquieu denounced with humor many prejudices of our «Western» perspective, through the vision of Persian ladies traveling among us.
With Fear and Trembling, Amélie Nothomb also sets the record straight with Westerners.
No ! and no ! Fear and Trembling is not an attack on the Japanese way of living, nor a value judgment. On the opposite, it is a humble, funny, and intelligent point of view from a young woman confronted to a new world. The message it carries could be :
Let’s observe and listen carefully, before we hastily judge the Other.
This is what we tried to do, in bringing Nothomb’s words on stage.
As she mentions herself : «The moment is nothing. Your life is nothing. No duration counts that is shorter than then thousand years».
I immersed myself with great pleasure and excitement in Amélie Nothomb’s narrative stream. Like thousands of invigorating water drops, her sensations and images made me chuckle with joy. Didn’t she say herself that in front of a good table, she could chuckle with pleasure ? Amélie Nothomb has her own way with words, and with such words, theater is around the corner.
Amélie Nothomb’s writing is strong, deep, sensual, intelligent, absurd, painful, one only has to express it, to let it fly over the audience, and it will deliver all that it carries.
Thanks to Amélie Nothomb, the Belgian exiled in Japan.
Thanks to Amélie Nothomb, the woman exiled from childhood.
Thanks to Amélie Nothomb for her wonderful ability to reinvent life, and drown pain into this beautiful child’s laughter.
This is what we tried to conjure up on stage.
I hope you will feel like coming and play in Amélie Nothomb’s hopscotch game

Amélie Nothomb, born in 1967 in Kobe, Japan, is a Belgian writer known for her prolific and distinctive literary style. The daughter of diplomat Patrick Nothomb, she spent her early years in Japan before living in multiple countries, shaping her unique perspective. She made a striking literary debut in 1992 with Hygiène de l’assassin and has since published numerous acclaimed novels, including Stupeur et tremblements (1999), which won the Grand Prix du roman from the Académie Française. A self-proclaimed “graphomaniac,” Nothomb continues to write and engage with her readers worldwide.

Security Rules: Each person attending the event must have a ticket registered in their name and a government-issued ID that matches the name on the reservation to enter the Embassy. No one will be admitted without a reservation and official ID. Due to strict security measures, please arrive on time, as doors will open at 7PM. Please allow for extra time for security screenings.

Host or Publisher Resources USA