Héroïne Chic
Directed by Adrien Lhommedieu
Review by Eric Stashak
Interview by Paula Renee

Wouldn’t it be awkward to imagine Bottecelli’s Venus trying to fall in love at a bar in San Francisco, London, or New York? A water-logged maiden arising from the fertile sea to participate in human affairs is a legend as old as time, but Adrien Lhommedieu's “Heroine Chic” never made it look so good. Her outfit blending effortlessly with the sea and wind, Manon Leloup embodies the confusion a modern-day Ariel might feel when in love with a sharp-dressed French man who, as the narrator explains, cannot provide for her daily bread. Her effortlessly shimmering eyes fall back towards the sea, but the audience knows that, now clothed in chic human garb, she cannot return.