A handful of people… something which resembles happiness
Vélo Théâtre
France
Immersive Object Theatre, 95 minutes, in easy-to-understand English and French. Unfortunately not fully accessible for people with disabilities.
Along with two eccentric stationmasters and a musician, the audience become the travellers. Ticket inspection, compartments, numbered seats – the “travel group” continually creates scenes that determine their state of travel. By means of a certain complicity between all those involved, combined with the resonance between space, objects and projections, a poetic universe gradually unfolds in which observing the small things in life promises something like happiness. What moves us when we go on a journey? Does contact with others really allow us to become a part of their lives, and does it provide a different perspective on our own lives?
Since 1981 the founders of the Vélo Théâtre, Charlot Lemoine and Tania Castaing, have been focussing on the poetic relationship to the audience in their visual performances. The core idea is that emotions arise out of the fragile relationship that the actors develop with the objects that surround them. Based on this conviction, they have played a decisive role in the development of object theatre in France. In 1993, the team moved into a disused fruit-canning factory in Apt in the Vaucluse Départment, which they converted into a theatre.
Co-production Le Carreau — Scène Nationale de Forbach et de l’Est mosellan, La Garance — Scène Nationale de Cavaillon, FMTM — Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes de Charleville-Mézières, Brighton Festival (United Kingdom), Théâtre Durance — Scène conventionnée Château-Arnoux/Saint-Auban, Le Pôle Arts de la Scène, Friche la Belle de Mai
Supported by DRAC PACA
Direction Catherine Poher Assistant direction Nicolas Joray Cast Tania Castaing, Charlot Lemoine, José Lopez, Fabien Cartalade Conception Tania Castaing, Charlot Lemoine, José Lopez, Fabien Cartalade, Catherine Poher Video Fabien Cartalade Lighting José Lopez, Fabien Cartalade Sound Fabien Cartalade Scenography Tania Castaing, Charlot Lemoine, José Lopez Artistic installation Flop Lefebvre Technical support Les ateliers du spectacle Production Vélo Théâtre
Photo Fabien Cartalade | Christophe Loiseau
Sponsored by Institut français, Ministère de la Culture