The privilege of aging
- Café des idées
Cloître Saint-Louis
Duration : 1h30
With the 51st Rencontre(s) d'été de la Chartreuse de Villeneuve lez Avignon
France / Creation 2024
Does old age spell the end of desire? Inspired by stories of the elderly, Mohamed El Khatib chronicles these romantic lives, from their first stirrings to the reinvention of love in later life. Eight elderly men and women share their stories of love and sex.
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On a ballroom dance floor, eight elderly individuals contemplate their past loves and current desires. In the intimate interplay of their lives, Mohamed El Khatib draws the portrait of a quiet generation. With tenderness and lucidity, he questions the marginalisation of those lives and the suppression of old age in nursing homes. A leading figure in documentary fiction, Mohamed El Khatib has revitalised this genre with his enlightened subject choices that often result in exceptional shows. As he did with the 53 supporters of the Lens Racing-Club he called on for Stadium (2017), he brings to the stage and gives voice to individuals who have so far been largely relegated to the margins. Based on a hundred interviews conducted right after the Covid lockdown, La Vie secrète des vieux breaks the taboo of their sexuality, exalting a sense of life inversely proportional to the fragility of the bodies.
¿Es la vejez el final del deseo? A partir de historias de personas mayores, Mohamed El Khatib documenta sus vidas amorosas, desde el primer despertar hasta la reinvención del amor al final de la vida. Ocho ancianos y ancianas hablan sobre sus deseos y sus actuales historias de amor.
With (alternating) Annie Boisdenghien, Micheline Boussaingault, Marie-Louise Carlier, Chille Deman, Martine Devries, Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Yasmine Hadj Ali, Salimata Kamaté, Jacqueline Juin, Jean-Paul Sidolle, Gaby Suffrin
Design Mohamed El Khatib
Dramaturgy Camille Nauffray
Set design Frédéric Hocké
Video Emmanuel Manzano
Sound Arnaud Léger
Collaboration Mathilde Chadeau, Vassia Chavaroche
Medical life Paul Ceulenaere, Virginie Tanda, Vinciane Watrin
Interviews Marie Desgranges, Zacharie Dutertre, Vanessa Larré
Stage manager Jonathan Douchet
Production Gil Paon
Administration Cécile Boursier
Press Nathalie Gasser
Photo Yohanne Lamoulère
Translation for surtitles Babel Subtitling (English)
Production Zirlib
Coproduction Festival d'Automne à Paris, Points communs Nouvelle Scène nationale (Cergy-Pontoise), Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles, La Comédie de Genève, Théâtre national de Bordeaux en Aquitaine, Théâtre national de Bretagne (Rennes), Tandem Scène nationale d'Arras-Douai, MC2: Grenoble Scène nationale, La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand Scène nationale, Le théâtre Garonne Scène européenne (Toulouse), Festival d’Avignon, Théâtre du Bois de l'Aune (Aix-en-Provence), Équinoxe Scène nationale de Châteauroux, Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse (Lyon), La Coursive Scène nationale de La Rochelle, Espace 1789 Scène conventionnée pour la danse de Saint-Ouen, Scène nationale Théâtre de Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, Le Channel Scène nationale de Calais
With the support of Mucem (Marseille) and for the 78th edition of the Festival d'Avignon: Villa Albertine (New York)
Co-directed by Festival d'Avignon, La Chartreuse-CNES de Villeneuve lez Avignon as part of the Rencontre(s) d'été series
Zirlib is subsidized by the Ministère de la Culture, Drac Centre-Val de Loire and supported by the Ville d'Orléans.
Mohamed El Khatib is an associate artist of Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Théâtre national de Bretagne (Rennes) and Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles.
In french
Surtitled in english
Please arrive at the venue 45 minutes before the start of the performance. Please note that parking spaces and the nearest bus stop are a 10-minute walk away. We advise you to arrive early, as we do not accept latecomers once the performance has started.
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