Curtain ! As the Avignon and Off theater festivals are about to begin, Actu.fr Vaucluse has spotted a few directors for you to follow. For this second episode, meeting with Simon Falguières.

It is a real feat that he, the director, and his company Le K will perform at At the Avignon Festival from July 9 to 16, 2022. For a full day, three hours -intermissions behaves-, they will play epic of two characters in two parallel worldswho must at all costs be found…

Hello Simon, why this piece? Where does inspiration come from?

Since I was a teenager, I’ve been writing plays, writing lives in me. I dreamed of a river work, like an epic, which would last for hours. During Florent, I met a generation of actors and actresses with whom I felt capable. Between 2015 and 2022, I wrote, we trained, and for the first time we performed the whole piece. At the beginning, we had no money, and over the seven years, we ended up at In d’Avignon, it was a daydream. Our story is also an epic, with all the human adventures that have gone through the troupe…

Why put two worlds back-to-back, one imaginarythe other as we know it?

One of the ways to save us is to reconnect with stories. The two worlds of our play destroy each other. Through their love, the protagonists, Anne and Gabriel, will try to save them. These separate worlds must be brought together. This play is also a declaration of love for the theatre: different stories like a good series, different registers (comedy, drama, epic, thriller, etc.)

Commentary Do Anne and Gabriel know that they must meet again?

They feel it. At the beginning of the story, in a world that resembles ours, Gabriel, an infant, is raised by his parents, Jean and Julie. The devil comes to them. From then on, the financial machines went haywire, there was no more work, the people decided to set fires. Jean and Julie flee from the continent in flames and abandon their little one at the foot of a caravan, near a theater company.

In the kingdom of tales, the queen falls ill. The king dreams that a man in a parallel world will save her. He sends his sons to sea, who die. While he doesn’t want his princess, Anne, to go there, she rushes.

Gabriel has a hunch that he must find this woman. The story is at the heart of my theatre, I want the public to wonder at all times what will happen next, to want to continue the show at all costs.

With this Western world, do you want to send political messages?

Of course, I think theater is always about the world we live in. On the other hand, what I don’t want is to do topical theatre. We are already covered with it from morning to night. I’m talking about the current tear in our society, but the most important thing is history.

Why a fairy tale princess as the main character?

She is not the archetype of the Disney princesses of our childhood. She is a feminist. Nobody imagines that it is up to her to do the Odyssey because she is a woman. Anne, she knows it’s up to her, she has incredible strength. She cuts her hair, takes a knife under her arms, and embarks with women only. She really is rock and roll.

We find big names in theater (Olivier Py, Molière…) in your room, why?

It’s a declaration of love for the theatre. It’s not an archaic art, it’s one of the last strongly linked to our humanity, without screens. I wanted to put in this piece all my loves as a spectator and as a reader. When you write, you drink in others and then bring out a personal work.

The piece is also dedicated to my father. I grew up in his theatre, that of Evreux. My father is from Avignon, he discovered theater in the 1950s with Jean Vilar. He has never played in Avignon and I, for the first time, am going to play at In, under his eyes. It’s so moving. In the play, a few sentences have a double meaning, they are also intended for him.

What worlds do the protagonists cross?

Dozens and dozens. There are over 200 costumes, over 50 characters. We are presenting a popular theatre, which wants to be a palace of marvels… The goal? That the spectators have the impression of a new room with each scene.

Comment on actually hold a 1pm audience?

There are 9h30 of play. It’s a feat for the actors who will be on the move even during intermissions and who will play two days in a row each time.

For the public, we take breaks, each “episode” will last 1h40 maximum. In the construction of the plot, several dramatic threads intersect. At the end of each “episode”, there is suspense. The story also needs to be very clear. The humorous scenes allow the viewer to catch their breath before the drama, and invite them to appreciate our characters even more. It’s a slalom between drama and humor.

And, each scene has its visual nugget, so that the public has the impression of changing the show each time.

Why the “nest of ashes”?

It is from them that the adventure is born. I like to tell myself that it is in a dilapidated state, in places of resistance in the face of the worst, that the most beautiful things are born. It has always fascinated me that it is at the foot of the volcanoes that are best cultivated. The most powerful poetic gestures are always in the resistance.

Was this article helpful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Vaucluse in the My Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.