Traces

“I have conquered the Word. It was long denied me. (...) I have to talk to you, my fellow men, because only the word lasts.”

An exceptional storyteller, Étienne Minoungou stands alone against the world, determined to talk to it. He speaks to give voice to the life he went through after leaving Africa to come back with a message of hope. He embodies the philosophical and poetic thought of Felwine Sarr, who wrote this Speech to African nations like a vast odyssey, a metaphorical journey towards a luminous engagement. His continent looking at itself and at the world, in service to the future of youth. A text propelled like an experience built through constant dialogue and sharing between the stage and the audience, to the rhythm of the actor's powerful voice and of Simon Winse's groovy music. A conquest that is yet to come, written in both the past and present tense, in the singular and the plural.

Éloge d'une soupçonnée, Le Marteau sans maître, and Fureur et Mystère are some of the texts on which An Echo to René Char is built. Felwine Sarr, wishing to explore and shine a light on the work and life of this immense poet whom he considers a bright guide, will be joined by actress Marie-Laure Crochant and musician Majnun and, through a choice of poems, aphorisms, and biographic notes, will bring together the life and engagement of one of the co-founders of the Festival d'Avignon.

With Étienne Minoungou, Simon Winse

Text Felwine Sarr
Direction Étienne Minoungou
Music Simon Winse
Outside view Aristide Tarnagda
Lights Rémy Brans
Video Emmanuel Toé

Production Théâtre de Namur
Co-production Festival Les Récréâtrales (Ouagadougou), Festival AfriCologne
With the support of Fondation Gabrielle von Brochowski Sud-Nord de l'Institut français and for the Semaine d'art en Avignon : Spedidam