Avignon OFF: “2 sisters”, a horrifying tale
Alone on stage Marien Tillet transports you to a horrifying tale where the fantastic rubs shoulders very closely with realities that we would rather forget. 2 sisters can be discovered at theater 11. during the Festival d’Avignon.
Ethnological research
Marc is the main protagonist of 2 sisters. Ethnologist and specialist in mass hysteria, he finds by chance at the bottom of his closet a diary, that of Aïleen O’Leary, an Irish woman who lived 60 years earlier. Intrigued by these writings, he begins an investigation to discover his identity and his story.
Throughout the room, 2 sisters switches into pure violence, that which is carried out by a group without precise motivations, that which triggers certain collective hysteria. It is the story of a lynching, an act perpetuated too long in the history of humanity.
A horror tale
Theater, and the performing arts more generally, don’t usually turn to horror to tell stories. This genre is nevertheless very present in the cinematographic world, so why this gap? The company Le Cri de l’Armoire decided to take the risk and offer shows based on horror and anguish and it succeeded marvelously in this artistic feat.
With its 2 sisters, Marien Tillet turns to our raw emotions, raising the tension and expectation, making us jump at the slightest moment. Accompanied by his violin, he makes us cringe at the sound of strumming and striking strings, makes us shudder, even feel physical sensations that go beyond words. At the next show, many of us will feel a rustle on our ankle…
A great storyteller
With age, it becomes more rare to be against stories, and yet the pleasure that one derives from them remains insatiable. With his prose, Marien Tillet transports us into his universe which he makes us see and feel. We no longer know where we are, hanging on his words too much. The environment of the ethnologist Marc opens up to us and we dive into it without looking back.
On his own, Marc interprets a multitude of characters. By his voice alone they smoke life: there is Beth and Aïleen O’Leary, Marc, an ethnologist friend, an Irish bartender or even Lisa. All have their own character, gestures and way of expressing themselves.
music and humor
Marien Tillet uses his violin to create the universe of his show and he plays it marvelously well. This instrument accompanies it throughout and thanks to various processes including loops, the sounds split, amplify and become ghostly. At times, it’s as if the violin was playing alone, suspended in the air. The melody insinuates itself beyond reality and participates in the creation of paranormal phenomena.
In order to counterbalance the horror, the anguish and the violence, Marien Tillet’s text makes people laugh. This performance on Saturday, July 16 was all the funnier because chance entered into it, as when he recounts a memory of Marc at the theater, disturbed during the performance at the most inopportune moment by his neighbor’s telephone ringing. . At this very precise moment, a telephone rang in the audience, the perfect timing! And Marien Tillet plays it, he agrees to insert external elements into his show, taking into account the reactions in the room.
With 2 sisters, Marien Tillet tells us a horrifying story, an investigation beyond the years that makes us shudder, awakening the mechanism of fear.
2 sistersa play written, directed and performed by Marien Tillet, presented from July 7 to 29, 2022, at 1:35 p.m. theater 11.room 2, as part of the OFF d’Avignon 2022 festival. Closed on July 12, 19 and 26, 2022. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes.
Visual: © OJ