Interview: A football enthusiast and PSG supporter, actor Denis Podalydès recently appeared on stage in “The Imaginary Invalid” and conversed with Raï, the iconic captain of the Paris club, who learned French by reading Molière. This meeting was fueled by the joy of the game as Paris faces Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
Following PSG’s qualification for the Champions League semi-finals, “Le Nouvel Obs” invited actor and director Denis Podalydès, 62, to talk with the iconic PSG captain Raï Souza Vieira de Oliveira, known as Raï, 60. The connection is justified by a quote from playwright Eugène Ionesco: “You have to go to the theater like you go to a football match. The match indeed gives us the most accurate idea of what pure theater is: antagonisms, dynamic oppositions, clashes of contrary wills.”
Costume/kit, intermission/halftime, troupe/team—From the stadium to the stage, the supporter Denis Podalydès, a Parc des Princes season ticket holder since 2012, has bridged the gap by expanding, in “The Team’s Mind,” the minutes preceding a decisive free kick. As for Raï, we learn that…
