The Breach

In the basement of a house located in a modest suburb in a “possible Kentucky” in 1977, four teenagers make an oath that will forever change the adults they'll become. Fourteen years later, they're back together to attend the funeral of one of them. And if they talk about their lives in the years since they last saw each other, it is all that is left unsaid that fascinates us. Silence becomes the cornerstone of a modern tragedy. Through this superposition of times, Tommy Milliot explores the realism of American writer Naomi Wallace and leads us down to a troubling place, built exclusively with light and sounds which infiltrate the space of the stage. Like a social play, The Breach is a fiction which serves as a mirror of a certain America stuck between two different times. It's as much about social class as it is about gender, in this play where “the question of consent is at the heart of this adolescent negotiation.”

Tommy Milliot founded the Man Haast company in 2014, with the project of working on contemporary writing. He likes to play with words, light, and space as raw material and to explore their relationship to the bodies of the actors and of the audience. He directed Frédéric Vossier's Lotissement (Housing Estate) in January 2016 at the Rose des Vents Scène nationale Lille Métropole. The show then joined the 70th edition of the Festival d'Avignon after winning the prix Impatience. He also directed Winterreise, by Norwegian author Fredrik Brattberg, for the Festival Actoral in 2017, then at the Next Arts Festival. Naomi Wallace's The Breach is the third play he has directed.

Naomi Wallace is a Kentucky-born award-winning playwright. Her plays, which include In The Heart of America and The Liquid Plain, have been performed throughout the world. One Flea Spare became part of the repertoire of the Comédie-Française in 2009, making Naomi Wallace the second American author to be performed there after Tennessee Williams.

The MacAlpine Spillway (La Brèche) by Naomi Wallace is published by éditions Théâtrales.

With Lena Garrel, Matthias Hejnar, Pierre Hurel, Dylan Maréchal, Aude Rouanet, Alexandre Schorderet, Edouard Sibé

Text Naomi Wallace
Translation Dominique Hollier
Direction and stage design Tommy Milliot
Dramaturgy Sarah Cillaire
Lights Sarah Marcotte
Sound Adrien Kanter
Stage set and construction Jeff Garraud
Direction assistant Matthieu Heydon

Production Man Haast
Co-production Festival d'Avignon, Pôle Arts de la Scène - Friche La Belle de Mai (Marseille), Théâtre Joliette Scène conventionnée pour les expressions contemporaines (Marseille), Théâtre du Bois de l'Aune (Aix-en-Provence), Centquatre-Paris
With the support of Artcena, Drac Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Département des Bouches-du-Rhône, Ville de Marseille, Spedidam, Fondation FACE, Fonds d'insertion pour jeunes artistes dramatiques With the help of Nanterre-Amandiers Centre dramatique national, Théâtre Ouvert Centre national des dramaturgies contemporaines (Paris), Montévidéo Centre d'art (Marseille), La Fabrique (Ateliers décors) du Théâtre des 13 vents Centre dramatique national Montpellier
With the artistic participation of Ensatt