Papperlapapp

It was a political-religious conflict between the king of France Philippe le Bel and the pope Boniface VIII that gave rise to the history of the Avignon papacy and therefore the history of the Palais des papes and its celebrated Cour d'honneur that Christoph Marthaler, Anna Viebrock and their companions will invest 700 years after the installation of the popes in France. This show created for the Cour will only be presented at the Festival. Curious about this place, curious about its architecture and its past, the director looked for what his musical theatre could express by taking an interest in this labyrinthine palace and those who went through it. Isn't this monument the majestic expression of political power and religious power that, down through the centuries, had in common using at their convenience truth and lies to protect themselves from the obstacles that constantly threatened them and establish over the long term the pre-eminence of one vis-à-vis the other? Questioning the parcelled-out history that books recount to us, adding a few missing, even invented elements, crossing literature, music and philosophy, Christoph Marthaler will cast his poet's eyes on the illusory nature of truth, in this new creation with the enigmatic title, an outmoded German expression, that could be translated as "blah blah blah" or "what next!". From small concrete events in sublime moments of individual or collective imagination, he will compose as usual a score that is as much acted as sung that will genuinely be inscribed in this Courtyard and will perhaps make appear what is hidden behind its monumental and fantastic wall. What was hidden there yesterday, what is still hidden there in 2010, behind its many transparent and stained-glass windows, doors, barred basement openings, in the tombs, true or false, real or theatrical. It is on a voyage between an "elsewhere" and "long ago", a "here and now" that Christoph Marthaler and Anna Viebrock invite us. A voyage between dreams and reality, archaeological research and a police investigation. An artistic voyage meticulously articulated, elegant and full of humour, at the limits of history and the theatre: and if the history of the Palais des papes was only now beginning? JFP

director Christoph Marthaler
scenographer Anna Viebrock
costumes Sarah Schittek
music supervisor Rosemary Hardy
music direction collaboration Bendix Dethleffsen
artistic collaboration Gerhard Alt
lighting Phoenix (Andreas Hofer)
dramaturg Malte Ubenauf
dramaturgy collaboration Olivier Cadiot
make-up Yara Rapold
sound Frédéric Vienot
assistant director Ludivine Petit
assistant scenographer Hannah Albrecht
assistanat aux costumes Nina Gundlach
technique and production Festival d\'Avignon
sets et and costumes were realized in the studios of the Festival d'Avignon

with Marc Bodnar, Raphael Clamer, Bendix Dethleffsen, Evelyne Didi, Olivia Grigolli, Rosemary Hardy, Ueli Jäggi, Jürg Kienberger, Bernhard Landau, Sasha Rau, Martin Schütz, Clemens Sienknecht, Bettina Stucky, Graham F. Valentine, Jeroen Willems

production Festival d'Avignon

avec le soutien de Pro Helvetia-Fondation suisse pour la Culture, de la Fondation Luma, de l'Association suisse d'Entraide sociale et culturelle, de la Fondation Corymbo, de Zuger Kulturstiftung Landis & Gyr, de l'Ambassade du Royaume des Pays-Bas à Paris et d'Arte
remerciements à Guy Castelbou pour le prêt d'un harmonium et à Étienne Leterrier pour la traduction