Thierry Bedard et Jean-Luc Raharimanana
A ceramicist by training, a set designer and stage manager, Thierry Bedard took part in several theatre collectives before founding the Association Notoire in 1989, which became "notorious" in 1994. Working on contemporary literary texts, he proceeded by show cycles that dealt with a single theme: "Verbal Pathologies", on the origin of languages then on the order of the discourse for which he drew from and adapted, among others, Michel Leiris, Michel Foucault, Jean Paulhan and René Daumal; Minima Moralia, on societal violence; The Liar's Argument, on political violence; The Censured Library, as a tribute to and in support of the International Parliament of Writers. Then followed In Praise of Illiteracy and lastly The Stranger(s) cycle of which The Gecko's Nightmares is a part. Thierry Bedard's engaged theatre is politically incorrect. Disrespectful but salutary, it "brings to knowledge" and tries to share a vast reflection on the lies and pretences that too often prevent us from understanding the balances of power that govern our world. Thierry Bedard presented, in 2004, In Hell and three poetic lessons QesKes 1/2/3, after the work of the Iranian author Reza Baraheni, at the Festival d'Avignon.
After studying literature at the University of Antananarivo, Raharimanana, at the age of 20, premiered his first play, The Prophet and the President, which was immediately censured by the Madagascan government. With an RFI prize and a scholarship under his belt, he then went to France where he studied ethno-linguistics and became a teacher, while continuing his literary activities through poems, novels, short stories and plays, all connected to his native country. His violent, lyrical and imageladen writing is inspired by the landscapes of his island, its oral traditions of tales and narratives, as well as its richmythology. A reflection on Madagascar's tragic history, grappling with the terrible and murderous French colonisation - he is the author of 47 -, then with poverty, violence and corruption, his work is nevertheless marked with a sensual and passionate gentleness as well as devastating humour. Going far beyond the borders, thiswork of memory and testimony makes Raharimanana an indispensable author of contemporary Africa.