A lesson in humility and literature, an ode to the relationship with the earth and time, to the history of peasantry, collectivism, joy and cohabitation with the living world… Jean Giono’s magnificent book (1935) is one of those “roman à tiroirs” (where the main narrative is interrupted by secondary narratives) that marked generations of readers and still resonates strongly today with its early “ecological” exploration of our relationship with the living and wild world. “The language of the novel, the importance of actions, its novelesque characters and the space of the plateau, its precisions and descriptive beauty provoked us theatrically,” explains Clara Hédouin.
With her writing partner, Romain de Becdelièvre, the director has taken on this story about the rebirth of joy and sensuality, to continue “playing outdoors and with the outdoors”, integrating the outdoor decor as a unique space to perform the descriptive and storytelling polyphonic narrative of Giono. And by combining his written word with site-specific documentary and sound stories, “words from elsewhere” are brought to the stage, giving a “voice to the upheavals and lines of force of the rural world, yesterday and today.”
We are thrilled to have the privilege of premiering this new and exciting long-term project in Bécherel!
BIOGRAPHY
Collectif 49 701 / Clara Hédouin
Collectif 49701’s actors, writers and directors (Clara Hédouin and Jade Herbulot, who also founded Birgit Ensemble) met while attending the Asnières-sur-Seine Studio-Theatre, via the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique in Paris (CNSAD). Long-term work started in 2012 around Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers to invent and create a “soap opera on stage”, leading to an eight-year adventure bringing together around twenty actors in six performances. The merry company and crew have brought a breath of fresh air to contemporary theatre. Today, as Collectif 49 701, co-writer and director, Clara Hédouin and co-writer Romain de Becdelièvre have taken on Jean Giono’s Joy of Man’s Desiring (Que ma joie demeure) to continue their theatrical adaptation work for public space exploring epic and collective formats for the outdoors. Clara Hédouin also teaches at Université de Rennes 2 and Université Paris-Ouest-Nanterre.
DISTRIBUTION
D’après Que ma joie demeure de Jean Giono / adaptation de Romain de Becdelièvre et Clara Hédouin
Mise en scène de Clara Hédouin / avec Suzanne de Baecque, Pierre Giafferi et Clara Mayer.
PRODUCTION
Un projet de création co-produit par Les Tombées de la Nuit avec la complicité du Théâtre de Bécherel.
