Site specific contemporary close-contact theatre Artistic director Ema Drouin

Since 1995 Deuxième Groupe d’Intervention creates artistic situations for, with and within the public space, while researching and elaborating a multi-disciplinary language. This approach, led by Ema Drouin, author and artistic director, is grounded on a contemporary speech often elaborated in collaboration with writers, on a specific relationship with the audience and the local population through physical proximity and interactivity, and on relying on the architectural place. Deuxième Groupe d’Intervention claims the public space, a place where anything is possible, as a place of thoughts to be lived in and shared.

TRAGEDY ! A poem... Creation 2010

A site specific and soundscape performance for 14 actors and a public place

«TRAGEDY! A poem...» challenges the hindrances and questions the hope. Stuck in a dark and chaotic world, heroes of the common, slowly arise and offer a mirror of the reconquest of a living together. A manifesto for humanism.

Author’s artistic intentions

The theatrical events that I create in outdoor public spaces examine indirectly, the question of our relationship to silence, to the “different”, to the “strange”, to the “unsaid”, to the incessant and often tumultuous relationships between private and public space. The revelation of secrets, and the voicing of singular and fragile texts on intimate subjects are threaded into these events. This starting point of this piece is to confront the idea of tragedy, and thereby to make a concrete statement in the heart of the public arena.

Unity of time, of place, of action... the piece is formed around fixed elements of décor in combination with a flexible, nuanced, moving contact with the audience. The spoken word is combined with physicality and a sonic landscape, and the result is a synthesis of work in several disciplines. In terms of décor, there are 10 islands made up of everyday objects, symbols of our consumer society. The islets are metaphors for people and objects which are discarded in life’s margins. Our fragilities, our weaknesses, our accumulated pain, our self-imposed wounds, which we have almost forgotten, our pasts... Universal and unique. Always there. To prevent us moving forward? Ema Drouin , author and artistic director

The audio and musical landscape cannot be dissociated from the actual means of diffusing the sound. Think of it as being a number of instrumentalists joined together in a fixed number of ten spaces. Each instrumentalist will play his piece of “music” and will be heard only within a limited range. So each audio universe will help the particularity of each islet for which it was written (solo) to resonate, without being mixed with the sounds of other islet. Then, later, each solitary soundscape will move towards the other audio universes, and this merging will produce a true polyphony. So the coming together of the audio elements will take place not only in time but also in physical space. Stéphane Marin , acoustic space composer

DEUXIEME GROUPE D’INTERVENTION – TRAGEDY! A poem… – 4 pages – 16 december 2010 1 We are in a public square. There is a calm, reflective atmosphere. On walking into the performance space the visitor discovers ten small islets, which seem to emerge from the ground. Broken up, fragmented, desolately beautiful, they seem to form a strangely disturbing vision of our world.

Little by little, one by one, bodies – or rather shadows of bodies – can be made out on the ground, on the walls, in hidden recesses; we hear plaintive voices and strident cries… They appear. They are us, them, you, me… fragile inhabitants of a chaotic world, products of a vast human misery born from the earth…their presence seems to question, to unsettle, to disturb, the neatly ordered islets.

From one end to the other of the space, everything starts to transform, a huge fire is lit and seems to call out; red shirts form a vast line; jackets are moved by the wind…a chaos of sounds fills, redefines and redraws the occupied space…

Little by little the ‘Heroes’, flesh of the same body, find themselves to be the centre of attention. They are the carriers of hope. Different, complementary, inseparable. Through the magnitude of their joy, their power increases ten-fold. Suddenly, a chorus of people stands up and begins to walk. They feel themselves to be one, a single entity creating a new identity.

Scenography

«TRAGEDY! A poem...» is built around 10 different spaces (islets) each one carrying a different imprint of the world, inhabited by 1 to 3 performers, and each emitting its own specific soundscape.

Spider Issue: Loneliness Scenograpy: 10 television sets with elder people interviews

Dark Jackets Issue: Hommage to those who die in the street Scenography: 132 jackets lying upside down on the ground 3 dancers

The Poors Issue: Dictatorships and harassment Scenography: 100 red shirts, figuring poor people 1 actress speaking 3 languages

Flying Carpet Issue: A time of peace amid the chaos Scenography: white tablecloth dressed up for teatime 1 transvestite performer

DEUXIEME GROUPE D’INTERVENTION – TRAGEDY! A poem… – 4 pages – 16 december 2010 2

The Reds Issue: The violence of Narcissus Scenography: red costumes 1 contact dancer, 1 performer dancer, 1 hip hop dancer

Glass feet Issue: Sexual abuse Scenography: Shoes and white underwear, a pile of glass 1 dancer and 1 female contortionist

Dolls Issues: Injustice and helplessness Scenography: 200 dolls and pieces of dolls lined up on the ground 1 actress/singer

Frogs crawling out of my mouth Issues: Which answers to face chaos? Scenography: A red sofa, philosophers books referring to the other issues 1 actress, 1 slammer

The Fire Issue: Las Fallas de San Juan Scenography: a fire with home furnitures 1 fire performer

Press

“TRAGEDY!” touches on our collective history in images and sensations, which will undoubtedly move and affect and trouble anyone who sees it. But above all it brings us hope. This ambitious and meticulous project will be a must-see part of the next festival, for the beauty of its décors and the commitment of its performers. Journal de Chalon

A mad, hallucinatory journey where the absence of any points of reference becomes a strength. Enacted on specially constructed spaces, like rafts of the Medusa on which men attempt to stay upright, Ema Drouin deals with questions of democracy, of secularism, and of injustice. These pieces from the tomb are destined to remain in the memory wherever they travel. La Montagne

Technical aspects

Artistic and technical team 23 people: 1 artistic director, 15 performers (6 dancers, 2 actor/singers, 1 performance poet, 1 contortionist, 1 performer using fire, 3 actresses, 1 composer/creator of audio landscapes live), 1 stage manager, 1 lighting technician, 1 sound technician, 2 assistant stage managers, 1 coordinator and 1 production manager Performance site Around 3000 m 2 depending of the chosen space Audience size Up to 1000 people. Duration of show 1H15 Performance scheduling Either night time or day time.

DEUXIEME GROUPE D’INTERVENTION – TRAGEDY! A poem… – 4 pages – 16 december 2010 3 Technical requirements (further details on demand) Dressing rooms + showers + 80 m 2 storage / Full 8 points system sound equipment / Light equipment (3 spotlights HQI 4000 Watts and 3 concrete blocks + 3 wooden poles of 5 meters long) / 6 FM transmitters + Walkie Talkies / Technicians: 3 versatile set technicians / Our own equipment fits in two vans (one 15m 3 and the other 12m 3).

Cast

Conception / Artistic Direction: Ema Drouin Composition / live performance: Stéphane Marin / Lighting design and operation: Olivier Dumont Performers: Galaxie Béchy, Sylvain Chollet, Marie-Do Fréval, Franck Mas, Béatrice Moreno, Catherine Salvini (actor/performer), Céline Fuhrer (actor/contortionist), Toma Roche (actor/slammer), Christian Ben Aïm, Laurent Chanel, Jessy Coste, Milène Duhameau, Sandrine Julien, Steve Paulet (dance/performance) Video: Nadir Bouassria Stage management: Annabel Hannier / Assistant stage management: Nadir Bouassria, Hélène Sanier, Aymeric Petit Bagnard

Partners

Support for writing: DMDTS /SACD, dispositif « Ecrire pour la rue »; L’Avant-Rue / Friches Théâtre Urbain (Paris); Espace Périphérique (Ville de Paris - Parc de La Villette) Support for creation: Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication - DMDTS; SACD - dispositif "Auteurs d'Espace Public"; CNT - Centre National du Théâtre; Le Moulin Fondu, Centre National des Arts de la Rue (Noisy-le-Sec); L’Atelier 231, Centre National des Arts de la Rue (Sotteville-lès-Rouen); Le Parapluie, Centre International des Arts de la Rue (Aurillac); L’Abattoir, Centre National des Arts de la Rue (Chalon sur Saône); Emmetrop à Bourges; Le Citron Jaune, Centre National des Arts de la Rue (Port St Louis du Rhône); La Paperie, Centre National des Arts de la Rue (Angers); “Quelques p’Arts... le SOAR” - Scène Rhône-Alpes - Boulieu-les-Annonay; La Coopérative De Rue et De Cirque à Paris; le Centre de Gérontologie « Les Abondances » à Boulogne-Billancourt; la Ville de Malakoff. Deuxième Groupe d’Intervention has an agreement with la DRAC Ile-de-France - Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication and it is supported by le Conseil Régional d’Ile-de-France, le Conseil Général du Val-de-Marne, le Conseil Général des Hauts-de-Seine and la Ville de Malakoff.

DEUXIEME GROUPE D’INTERVENTION Site specific ontemporary close-contact theatre 27 rue Voltaire - 92240 Malakoff - FRANCE Development manager: Savine Raynaud - Mobile: +33 (0)6 71 63 08 43 / E-mail: [email protected] Administration/Production : Séverine Duroux/Sophie Séjourné Communication : Coralie Weben Phone: +33 (0)9 54 33 95 05 / +33 (0)6 30 95 77 31 E-mail : [email protected]

Photo credits: Michel Wiart / Aziz Soumaila

DEUXIEME GROUPE D’INTERVENTION – TRAGEDY! A poem… – 4 pages – 16 december 2010 4