Caléta

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  • Reading

With RFI

Benin

Street children Nina, Sico and Bobo live a precarious life. One night, while drunk, Nina accidentally causes the death of a strange being on her motorbike. Frightened but intrigued, she takes his mask with her, becoming the main attraction of their street shows, known as Caléta.

Ça va, ça va le monde with RFI, 2022 © MarieCM Photography

Presentation

This series of readings is an opportunity for Festival audiences and World Radio listeners to discover new works. These six texts are in fact ‘fresh writings’, most of them unpublished and never performed in Europe. Texts by authors from African countries and Haiti, which from Avignon are addressed to the whole world.

This 12th edition will open with a focus on Cameroon: two texts inspired by social issues, the disappearance of children and freedom of the press. Eric Delphin Kwegoué, winner of the Prix RFI Théâtre 2023, writes a plea for press freedom dedicated to all the journalists murdered in his country. All the other plays, from Benin and Haiti, are also texts of struggle and the missing narratives that are essential to a broader perception of the world.

Caléta

By Gaël Tchégoun Hounkpatin - Benin

Street children Nina, Sico and Bobo live a precarious life. One night, while drunk, Nina accidentally causes the death of a strange being on her motorbike. Frightened but intrigued, she takes his mask with her, becoming the main attraction of their street shows, known as Caléta. Nina's new identity behind the mask attracts attention, but also trouble. Wearing the mask of disorder is not without consequences...
2023, winner of Les Journées de Lyon des Auteurs de Théâtre 2024 and Convergence Plateau the same year.

With a degree in Private Law, Gaël Tchégoun Hounkpatin is passionate about theatre and cinema. He has appeared in a number of productions, including the original Canal + series Black Santiago's Club (2022). Alongside his work as a scriptwriter, he is training as a playwright. After his first play, La fille de la paroisse, he wrote Caléta, which was a finalist for the RFI theatre prize.

Distribution

With Serge Yéroné Koto, Ibrahima Diokine Sambou
and Insas students Baptiste Uhl, Héléna Ekanda, Solange O'Brayanne Muneme, Lewis Forgeur, Bastien Fourmy , Sofia Golovatch , Thibault Hebrard , Jeanne-Litt Magis , Cyril Romero, Margaux Roussillon, Emilie Vereggen
Reading directed by Armel Roussel, assisted by Martin Villemonteix (Insas)
Sound design Pierre-Alexandre Lampert
The Ça va, ça va le monde! series is created and coordinated by Pascal Paradou

Production

Coproduction RFI, Compagnie [e]utopia

With the support of Institut français, SACD, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, Fonds Marie-Paule Delvaux Godenne, L'asbl Les Amis de l'Insas, the Agence française de développement and for this reading l'Institut français du Bénin

Practical infos