Photo : Metagore Majeure © Edouard Outters
New Work
Métagore Majeure
Compagnie Canicule
(Belgium)
Two duchesses in a schizophrenic declaration of love to booba
From the age of 16
With Métagore, a promenade performance in a car examining the role of women in rap music, Pauline Desmarets and Olivia Smets created a drive-in theatre experience for an audience of three, designed entirely around the lyrics of French rapper, Booba. Now they’ve created Métagore Majeure, its XXL version for outdoor theatre and ninety spectators wearing headphones, once again focusing entirely on the rapper's lyrics, with the same two aristocrats in 18th century ball gowns. Between crude punchlines and frilly lace, gangsta stereotypes and baroque music, the two overexcited duchesses continue to take their revenge on misogyny in this corrosive, schizophrenic and hard-hitting declaration of love-hate.

The starting point for the Belgian company is Booba’s rap songs and the unequivocal message that women are “dogs, whores, fat biatches, sluts, good for nothing but f*cking and cooking.” Dressed as a duchess and marquise in the style of Madame de Pompadour, Pauline Desmarets and Olivia Smets tackle the lyrics of France’s most powerful rapper head on, placing them at the heart of the show as the only text. “We, as young women, listen to it, sing it, dance to it, and choose to declare our love to Booba. Is there something wrong with that?” they ask.

Playing on the converging conventions of aristocracy and hip-hop, on the collision of two seemingly opposite worlds, the actresses create a relationship of fascination and repulsion, confronting femininity and masculinity, domination and submission, physical force and weakness, stuffy costumes and unbridled bodies, corsets and sensuality. In this curious schizophrenic setting of crude words, ornaments and jewels, trashy feminist smooth talk on a gangsta punch-line backdrop, the balance is perfect, without anyone giving out lessons or answers. It’s a “sensitive hybrid bastard” that fuses lace and gore for a perfectly explosive mix.

BIOGRAPHY

Compagnie Canicule 

This young Belgian theatre company based in Schaerbeek (Brussels) and co-managed by Clémentine Colpin, Pauline Desmarets and Olivia Smets, invents new fiction for the future. They started with Save The Date (2015-2018), a tragic comedy wedding party loosely adapted from Chekhov. They followed up with Ublo (2018), a poetic fable for young audiences about autism. In 2016, with Que fait une fille si charmante toute seule ?, the company began exploring promenade performances in a car, in this case for two spectators, and the trashy examination of youth in search of love. With Métagore (2017-2019), a drive-in performance on the role of women in rap music, they perfected the promenade performance format. Their 2020 production, Métagore Majeure, further extends their experimentation with large outdoor formats using a headphone sound system for a hundred spectators. The Canicule company combines pop culture and pointed references and works with colourful yet nuanced theatre that breaks free of conventions.

DISTRIBUTION

Conception et interprétation : Pauline Desmarets et Olivia Smets
Direction artistique : Olivia Smets
Direction de production : Pauline Desmarets
Co-conception et regard extérieur : Clémentine Colpin
Dramaturgie : Diane Fourdrignier
Création sonore et direction technique : Noé Voisard
Création costumes : Cinzia Derom
Création lumière : Filippo Cavinato
Inspirations visuelles : Camille Collin
Assistanat : Thomas Xhignesse

PRODUCTION

Une production de Mars – Mons arts de la scène et Canicule ASBL, en coproduction avec la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Latitude 50 – Marchin, Les Tombées de la Nuit – Rennes (FR), le Manège de Maubeuge (FR), le Théâtre de l’Ancre – Charleroi, le Festival de Liège/Factory

Thansk to CCNRB / Collectif FAIR-E – ccnrb.org

Friday 02 July 2021
22:15 > 23:30
Le Garage, 18 Rue André et Yvonne Meynier, Rennes
Saturday 03 July 2021
22:15 > 23:30
Le Garage, 18 Rue André et Yvonne Meynier, Rennes

Free • Reservation required at at festival reception at the Opera’s rotunda (Wed., June 30 & Thu., July 1st, 00:30 p.m. > 07:00 p.m. • Fri., 2nd & Sat. 3rd July, 00:30 p.m. > 09:00 p.m. • Sun., July 4th, 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.), by phone at +332 99 32 56 56 or by mail at reservation@lestombeesdelanuit.com.
90 seats
More information 02 99 32 56 56

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The association is supported by the City of Rennes, the Brittany Region, the Ille-et-Vilaine Department & the ministry of culture.

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