« Normal » • Isabelle Darras, After Party//Cie • Théâtre National

Combining object theatre, video, puppetry and live actors, Isabelle Darras’s creation tells the story of three women relegated – just as the accessories that surround them – to the lost property department. Claire, an equestrian stuntwoman in between jobs, retrained as a receptionist and so met her colleagues, Christelle and Teresa, all three as out of place as each other in this dreary basement. Little by little, under Claire’s impetus, the objects will come back to life and these three women will make their own revolution.

None of the things around us lasted long enough to age, they were replaced, rehabilitated at full speed. Inspired by this phrase from Annie Ernaux, Isabelle Darras here constructs a device whose monochrome aesthetic draws not least from Roy Andersson’s You, the living universe, between neo-vintage and retro-futuristic. She depicts a kind of no man’s land in which the trajectory of objects, like that of people, symbolizes distraction and the search for resistance to the absurdity of a crushing system.

Information

Language

Venue

Salle Jacques Huisman

Duration

60'

Kids

+ 10 years old

Cast

Direction & text
Isabelle Darras
Elisabeth Ancion

Performance & collaboration on the script
Audrey Dero
Céline Dumont / Sandrine Hooge
Ingrid Heiderscheidt / Catherine Mestoussis

Residence assistant
Alice Hubball

Creation assitant
Céline Dumont

Light design & technical direction
Jérôme Dejean

General stage manager
Grégoire Tempels

General stage manager (TN)
Matthieu Kaempfer

Scenography
Saskia Louwaard
Katrijn Baeten

Costumes
Elisabeth Ancion

Puppets
Carole Allemand
Joachim Jannin

Video design
Eve Martin
John Pirard

With the participation of
Vera Fonteyne
François Necken
Jade Eloy-Hooge
André Pasquasy
Nicolas Bruno
Isabelle Urbain
et de tous les voisins, amis et passants de la Rue Mandeville à Liège

Design and realization of accessories
Céline Dumont
Elisabeth Ancion
Jérôme Dejean
Laurent Steppe
Isabelle Darras

Makers
Ateliers du Théâtre National de Wallonie-Bruxelles, Mars - Mons arts de la scène et Maison de la culture de Tournai/maison de création

Construction backup
Fabien Laisnez

Sound design
David Chazam

Dramaturgical advice
Dominique Roodthooft

Development and touring
Bloom Project

Production manager
Mars - Mons arts de la scène

Co-production
After Party//Cie, Maison de la culture de Tournai/maison de création, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Théâtre Royal de Namur, Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes de Charleville- Mézières, La Coop asbl et Shelter Prod

With support from
Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles - service du théâtre et de Taxshelter.be, ING et du tax-shelter du gouvernement fédéral belge

With the help of
SACD, Théâtre des Doms, Maison de la Marionnette, Le Corridor, Factory / Festival de Liège, de La Roseraie, L’Ancre - Théâtre Royal et l’Eden, Centre culturel de Verviers

Avec la formidable gentillesse et disponibilité des Bureaux des objets trouvés de Liège, Bruxelles et Tournai ainsi que Valérie Lesort, Stéphane Bissot, Bouli Lanners, Maia Baran, Anne Paulicevich et Frédéric Fonteyne, Greg Houben, Vincent Cahay, Steven Haine, Frank et Nicolas Pepermans, Florence Meur, Isabelle Huart, Serge Bodart, Pierre Clément, Nadine Dhoor, Christelle Darras, Axel De Booseré, Patrick Donnay, Danielle Parmentier, Vincent Eloy, Romain Laval, Delphine Bibet, Benoît Devos, Michel Dejeneffe, la famille Dachouffe, Morgan Politi, Vincent Solheid, Sarah Brahy, Jade El Our

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