This theatrical staging takes the form of an imaginary dialogue between a Venerable Master โ played by Colette Loubatiรจre, a historian and member of the History Commission of the French Federation of Human Rights โ and Baruch Spinoza, played by Jean-Marie Lovicki, a member of the Grand Orient de France.
Spinoza presents himself as a candidate for admission to Freemasonry. Having read the three surveys, the Venerable Master poses the central question: 'Mr. Spinoza, how can you reconcile freedom and determinism?'
Spinoza replies that men are mistaken when they believe themselves free: they are aware of their actions but blind to the causes that drive them. Freedom, he argues, lies not in deciding, but in understanding what compels us.
Following the candidate's hearing, the assembly must deliberate on whether to admit him โ turning the audience into witnesses of this philosophical and theatrical encounter.