FRATERNITY, a fantastic tale

2021. After a sudden cataclysm, half of humanity has disappeared. There’s no trace left of the departed. To fill that void and maintain the personal and collective memory of this disappearance starts to appear a new kind of social centre: the “Centres for Healing and Consolation.” There, people try to heal the absence, to fight the passage of time and the erosion of memories. The amazing diversity of the stories told turn those tragic destinies into a tale, into songs that rebuild a future made of starry echoes, almost mythological. To create this unique and resilient community, Caroline Guiela Nguyen spent over two years looking for people capable of creating and embodying the second part in her cycle dedicated to the concept of fraternity. And today, it is those professional and amateur actors, speaking various languages and aged 16 to 79, who appear before us to reveal the poetic and fantastic strength of our realities and the part of future within our present.

FRATERNITY, a fantastic tale is the second part of the FRATERNITÉ cycle, which includes two other creations to date : Les Engloutis (2021), a short film co-produced by Les Films du Worso and Les Hommes Approximatifs; L'Enfance, la Nuit, a show created at the Schaubühne in Berlin in 2022. Written and directed by Caroline Guiela Nguyen, Les Engloutis (The Drowned) was shot in the Arles prison in 2020, starring inmates. Neither a documentary nor a video essay about prison, this short film is a powerful fiction.

With Dan Artus, Saadi Bahri, Boutaïna El Fekkak, Hoonaz Ghojallu, Maïmouna Keita, Nanii, Elios Noël, Alix Petris, Saaphyra, Vasanth Selvam, Anh Tran Nghia , Hiep Tran Nghia, Mahia Zrouki

Text Caroline Guiela Nguyen with the entire artistic team
Direction Caroline Guiela Nguyen
Dramaturgy Hugo Soubise, Manon Worms
Artistic collaboration Claire Calvi
Stage design Alice Duchange
Costumes Benjamin Moreau
Lights Jérémie Papin
Music and sound Teddy Gauliat-Pitois (composition) , Antoine Richard (production and composition) 
Video Jérémie Scheidler
Surtitles Panthéa

Production Les Hommes Approximatifs
Executive production Les Hommes Approximatifs, Festival d’Avignon
Co-production Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe, ExtraPôle Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur*, La Comédie CDN de Reims, Théâtre national de Bretagne, Théâtre national de Strasbourg, PROSPERO – Extended Theatre*, Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles, Théâtre de Liège, Les théâtres de la ville de Luxembourg, Châteauvallon Scène nationale, Théâtre de l'Union CDN du Limousin, Centro Dramatico Nacional (Madrid), Théâtre Olympia CDN de Tours, La Criée Théâtre national de Marseille, MC2: Grenoble, Dramaten Stockholm, Schaubühne Berlin, Le Grand T Théâtre de Loire-Atlantique, Les Célestins Théâtre de Lyon, Comédie de Colmar CDN Grand Est Alsace, La Rose des vents Scène nationale Lille Métropole Villeneuve d’Ascq, Le Parvis Scène nationale Tarbes Pyrénées, Théâtre national de Nice, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II (Lisbonne), Thalia (Hambourg), Théâtre du Beauvaisis Scène nationale, RomaEuropa Festival
With the exceptional support of the DGCA, Prospero Extended Theatre (co-financed by the program Creative Europe by the UE), of DC&J, Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique, Inver Tax Shelter and for the 75th edition of the Festival d’Avignon : Spedidam
With the participation of the Jeune Théâtre National, and the Institut Français (Paris)
With the help of the workshops of the Grand T Théâtre de Loire-Atlantique for the construction of the sets and the workshops of the Théâtre de Liège for the creation of the costumes
In partnership with France Médias Monde

*Production platform supported by the Région SUD Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
** PROSPERO – Extended Theatre is a project co-financed by the Creative Europe programme of European Union