Open Letter to Thélyson Orélien, the Author of C'était ça ou mourir

Dear Thélyson,

I must today go back to 1677 to talk to you about 2026. For literary history, that old lady who repeats herself, has just replayed for you its cruelest scene.

You may remember Phèdre. When Jean RACINE, the gentle Racine, the tender Racine, at the height of his art, presented Phèdre, the public did not love it. The public preferred Jacques PRADON's Phèdre, a flashy, easy, contemporary version. The cabal was fierce. The critics were merciless. Paris buried Racine alive. And Racine, hurt in his innermost soul, became