Once upon a time, during the 18th century, there lived the knight of Saint-George, a famous musician and talented fencer, a biracial man hailing from the West Indies. Today there lives an eight-year-old girl, hailing from the suburbs of Paris, who is convinced that under her white skin she is actually black and who picked for herself a boy's name, George. As questions of identity seem more relevant than ever, Gustave Akakpo offers here a reflection on what upsets and disturbs us. In a world in which human diversity should be a source of cultural wealth, the fear of the other is at the heart of this reflection on the quest for one's identity. By using the form of the dramatic fairy tale, Akakpo avoids all didacticism and offers instead a reverie anchored in the everyday life of a heroine looking for herself. Rising to the challenge posed by this character who is by turns black and white, Matthieu Roy creates a show halfway between the real and the illusion of the theatre, inviting his audience, regardless of their age, to enter this little girl's imagination. By the end of this surprising initiation journey, the theatre will appear as an echo chamber, a place where everything is possible for those children looking for a future they can build.
At once a dramatist, a plastic artist, an actor, a storyteller, and an illustrator, Gustave Akakpo was born in Togo in 1974. Considering his work as a writer to also be that of an educator, he teaches numerous creative writing workshops in France, Togo, Tunisia, Syria, Belgium, Guyana, etc., and often works with convicts. He has written about fifteen plays, many of which have won literary awards. His works aim to forge links between different cultures and civilisations, and are often set at the intersection of the African and European continents. Gustave Akakpo also enjoys writing for an audience of children and teenagers, and never ceases to ask his contemporaries questions that can sometimes be disconcerting but are always relevant.
Jean-François Perrier, April 2014
Distribution
Direction Matthieu Roy
Artistic collaboration Johanna Silberstein
Scenography Gaspard Pinta
Lighting Manuel Desfeux
Sound Mathilde Billaud
Video Nicolas Comte
Costumes Noémie Edel
Direction assistant Marion Lévêque
Production Jean-Baptiste Pasquier
Diffusion Juliette Medelli (Bureau FormART)
WIth
Gisèle Adandedjan, Charlotte van Bervesseles, Carlos Dosseh
And the participation of Claire Aveline
Production
Production Cie du Veilleur
Coproduction Conseil général de Seine-Saint-Denis, Théâtre des Bergeries (Noisy-le-Sec), Forum Scène conventionnée de Blanc-Mesnil, Théâtre du Fil de l'eau (Pantin), Théâtre Jacques Prévert (Aulnay-sous-Bois), Espace Georges Simenon (Rosny-sous-Bois), Espace 1789 (Saint-Ouen), Théâtre de Thouars Scène conventionnée
The set have been realized in Workshops of the Théâtre du Nord CDN Lille Tourcoing Région Nord-Pas-de-Calais
WIth the artistic participation of Jeune Théâtre National (JTN)
With the support of Institut français, Région Poitou-Charentes, DICRÉAM, Fondation Zinsou, École internationale de Théâtre du Bénin, Fondation BNP Paribas
La Cie du Veilleur est conventionnée par le Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (DRAC Poitou-Charentes), la Région Poitou-Charentes, le Conseil Général de la Vienne et la Ville de Poitiers
Commande d'écriture pour le jeune public du Conseil Général de la Seine-Saint-Denis et des théâtres de Noisy-le-Sec, Blanc-Mesnil, Pantin, Aulnay-sous-Bois, Rosny-sous-Bois et Saint-Ouen