Eunice, 16, takes great inspiration and advances on the stage of the Auditorium of the Palace of Versailles. “I have always been fighting for secular teaching. I fight for the greatness of free thought. The law on the separation of churches and the State is not a law like any other. It is an essential element of human progress developed for a long time by French genius. From Rabelais via Voltaire and Victor Hugo “, declaims the teenager who slips into the shoes of Jean Jaurès for the time of representation. This June 3, 2025, ten students from the Jacques-Vaucanson vocational high school of Mureaux play the play Separation. 1905 law in front of 80 people. “We had already produced in our high school and then in the space of the inhabitants of our city. But I would never have thought of finding myself one day here. I have the impression of living a dream!” Said Eunice behind the scenes a few minutes before.
Offer students to put on the roles of deputies who discussed the famous bill establishing the separation of the Church and the State at the beginning of the 20th century: the idea was launched in 2018 by René Badache, head of the Arc-en-Ciel association Ile-de-France (active). “Secularism is often poorly understood by the young generation. Many mistakenly think that it is a liberticide principle, mainly directed against Muslims. This jump in the past allows students to better understand the current issues,” explains this clinical and actor sociologist. Drawing on the principle of the Forum theater, a popular education method introduced in France in the 1970s, the latter regularly intervenes in schools. “This consists in approaching potentially conflicting subjects through the staging. The representations are followed by a debate which allows to open the dialogue”, continues René Badache.
The former teacher has been working with Lycées des Mureaux for two years. This city of Yvelines where Emmanuel Macron had pronounced his action plan to fight against separatisms. “Secularism is the cement of united France,” said the president. “This project, funded within the framework of the educational city, is part of the continuity of this announcement and responds to the need to make Republic”, explains Ali Fathi, delegate of the prefect at Mureaux. For this representative of the State, this “fun” and “relaxed” device is a very good way to deal with a subject deemed sensitive. “The message that passes through these young people is all the stronger since it echoes the drama of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine,” he recalls. In 2020, in this same department, the history professor Samuel Paty had been murdered by an Islamist terrorist after giving a civic education lesson.
René Badache, a field actor since 1981, has seen the climate deteriorate in certain territories over the past two decades. And republican principles lose ground in the face of the rise of Islamism. “Political clientelism has a lot to do with it. Little by little, social centers have transformed under the influence of reactionary religious currents,” he denounces. In certain colleges and high schools, several themes such as that of equality of girls-boys or homosexuality have become difficult, even impossible, to be tackled. “On the other hand, the work that we do on secularism through this piece has never generated tensions. The fact that we work hand in hand with referent teachers, very involved and aware of the issues, is there for many”, continues the one who defines himself as a “craftsman of citizenship”.
The dialogues and the staging of the play are inspired by François Hanss’s TV movie, The separation (2005), shot in the hemicycle of the National Assembly. The apprentice actors of Mureaux have all viewed the work which brings together big names in French cinema like Pierre Arditi, Michael Lonsdale or Claude Rich. This preliminary work made it possible to remove the misunderstandings. “For example, some of my students did not understand why the wearing of ostensible religious signs is authorized in public space and not at the school. I reminded them of the principle of the law of 2004 and the role of the school which is to train free and enlightened citizens,” explains Lise Javori, documentary professor of the Jacques-Vaucanson high school, which is carrying out the project. The young actors thus transformed into “ambassadors” of secularism. “Some intervened with other comrades who wore a strip hiding their hair within the establishment. They explained to them why it is prohibited with their words. The message goes much better when it is carried by other young people,” says Lise Javori.
Each high school students were able to choose the deputy he wanted to represent. “I was seduced by the personality of Jean Jaurès who was someone calm and posed,” says Eunice. Zeid, 16, preferred to play Paul Doumer, the president of the National Assembly: “I like his neutrality and the idea of playing the role of referee pleased me well.” While Layachi, 22, registered in BTS, did not hesitate to lend his voice to the Gayraud abbot, a fervent Catholic and fierce opposing the law of 1905. “The opposite of my own ideas! But this role allows me to express various emotions”, estimates the young man. Last year, another student who played Father Gayraud was arrested during the debate that followed the performance. A spectator had asked him if, as a Muslim, he was not embarrassed to wear a cross and a cassock. “Salif replied that playing a character different from him did not question his religious convictions in any way. The theater offers this distance which allows you to occupy all roles,” said René Badache.
Thanks to the play, the students were also able to compare the political positions of the time compared to those of today. “Maurice Allard, located rather on the far left of the chessboard, was one of the most virulent opponents of the influence of the Church. So much so that he wanted to prohibit priests with the wearing of religious clothes in the street!”, Recalls René Badache. Unlike Aristide Briand for whom separation should not be “the signal of confessional struggles”. Experience will also have enabled these high school students to gain self -confidence. “The returns of their teachers are often very positive: many feel more comfortable, take more speaking in progress. And they have all understood the virtues of the debate,” confirms Lise Javori.
A few hours before going on stage, the stage fright inherent in any actor was obviously palpable. “Where are the chairs of the CDI? You have to go and get them on the bus!” Worries one of them, explaining that they were specially transported to perfect the decor. “What you do is great, I just add a little salt in this dish which is already perfect”, reassures them Elise Blanchard, the director, by providing them with some last tips.
During the day, students will have the chance to admire the prestigious hall of the Versailles Congress where parliamentarians meet in exceptional sessions. In the evening, after the final salute, the small group turned the place of arms with the chairs of the CDI under the arm. And René Badache to launch: “Our work could be akin to drops of water in the ocean. I prefer the image of the small seeds that we sow while they are germinating.”