Avignon OFF: the double alone-on-stage of “We don’t talk with mittens”
It was possible to attend the last performance ofWe don’t talk with mittens this Friday, July 29 at Golovine Theater during the Avignon Festival. A bilingual show filled with humor that will lead you to understanding each other.
An elevator shaft
An elevator shaft stands in the center of a plateau plunged into darkness. The neon lights are reflected on a ground with geometric patterns, giving a strange space, as if coming from another world. In this space limited to four square meters, two men found themselves locked up. The elevator is broken, it is impossible to get out and you have to support yourself. However, faced with the urgency of this burlesque situation, Denis and Anthony are unable to communicate. Then begins a totally absurd dialogue between a dancer who never stops talking, and a deaf actor who speaks LSF.
A double story
We don’t talk with mittens is a truly bilingual creation. The two actors have each written part of the text in their native language (LSF and French), which they interpret on stage. From this double alone-on-stage come stories that overlap, intersect and complement each other. While the dialogue seems compromised, the two men come to interact thanks to their bodies. Their silhouettes mingle and give rise to moments when it seems possible to understand each other.
In this show, the spectator is projected into the place of one of the two actors. Unless you speak LSF and French, it is impossible to have access to the two monologues. He therefore becomes either Anthony’s accomplice or Denis’ accomplice, and will try to guess what the other is saying, making intuition his best ally.
The interaction with the other
Denis and Anthony have developed a real bond. Their duet is touching and reveals this desire not to leave out the one we don’t understand. This innocuous situation that they stage revealed with great accuracy this moment when one does not take the time to open up to the other, too obsessed with his own thoughts. In the first minutes, Denis does not look at Anthony and overinterprets all of his gestures. He doesn’t even understand that his elevator companion is deaf, chaining words.
Ultimately, We don’t talk with mittens talks about this first encounter between a deaf person and a hearing person and the means that must be found to communicate. The language of the body is then expressed, taking precedence over the words which hit an impassable wall. You have to learn to look at yourself and let your emotions show on your face. The body becomes a kind of blank page on which is written everything there is to say, a universal language.
“After seeing the show, it is possible to discover the other version of the story: Anthony’s text for hearing people and Denis’ text for deaf people. A full capture of the show is available with Denis’ voice subtitled and Anthony’s LSF translated live by Géraldine Berger? »
A show written and performed by Anthony Guyon and Denis Plassard and choreographed by Denis Plassard.
Visual: ©Romain Tissot