La Varienne, (meaning a good for nothing) is a country bumpkin of a woman immured in the total silence of her house.  But the day comes when her daughter, Luce, has to go to school to learn to read and write.  Deeply troubled, the mother remains in the street all day, on the lookout for her daughter's return.  Their indissoluble relationship, nourished by "a silence which forms and destroys the world" is under threat.  Béatrice Graf's percussions underpin the performance of Maria Perez and Laurence Vielle who embody the animality and tenderness of this fusional loving relationship.  Directed by Didier Carrier, Les demeurées (adapted from a UNICEF prize-winning novel in 2001) reveals how the path to knowledge may be painful, even tragic, for those who live beyond the boundaries of the world. For la Varienne "is an island, and her life is beyond isolation", as others observe.  The author, Jeanne Benameur, knows what she is talking about. Formerly a young teacher in a rural environment, her writing workshops were attended by students living in isolation, from closed and remote backgrounds.