Mathias Brossard invites a large group of performers he met at La Manufacture to meet in the countryside to celebrate summer with Chekhov.
Mathias Brossard invites a large group of performers he met at La Manufacture to meet in the countryside to celebrate summer with Chekhov.
From noon to sunset and the next morning, in the forest of Epalinges, and with the characters of the Russian masterpiece, time passes and the old world is turned upside down.
The play' s enormous ambition paved the way for theatrical modernity thanks to the scope of its plot and its characters stripped of all heroism. Anna Petrovna, a young widow, invites a group of friends to her country home every summer. No one knows it yet, but this summer will be their last: the estate will be sold to pay off old debts and the group will break up.
One character stands out and precipitates the end of this world: Platonov, a fallen aristocrat in his thirties, a melancholic without stature whose acerbic irony earns him admiration and fear. He is nothing, has accomplished nothing, has no ambition, but he fascinates. He himself and the admiration he arouses are symptoms of an amorphous and spineless age. He will lead the various actors in this play, including himself, to their ruin. The chatter and jokes that initially animate this small summer community are soon followed by drunkenness, seduction and regret before the almost chance arrival of death.
The play speaks of fierce friendship, love and desire, faithfulness and obstacles, lack of character and dreams of change. With the help of many secondary characters and without fear of detours or dead ends, this vast play paints the portrait of a young society that does not know how to deal with the impossible legacy of the world bequeathed by its fathers.
In this beautiful piece, which is the result of a long-term collective project – five summers, one per act, spent rehearsing together in the countryside – each act of the play is performed in a different area of the forest, inviting us to follow it in tranquil wandering. The dramaturgy incorporates the landscape, the natural perspectives, the weather, the light (there is no other lighting), while attention is paid to a minimal ecological footprint and possible unexpected encounters: the performance is an opportunity to spend a weekend in the forest, with Chekhov, the theatre and the actors. For Chekhov's drama is coupled with a parallel plot, that of the performers who have come together to rehearse this dizzying theatrical text. Like the characters, performers and spectators are invited to enjoy this special time spent together, whatever may happen, and as if in anticipation of a necessary social change.
Theatre
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 - 7:00pm | Tue 14.06 | 19h00 | |
Wednesday, June 15, 2022 - 7:00pm | Wed 15.06 | 19h00 | |
Thursday, June 16, 2022 - 7:00pm | Thu 16.06 | 19h00 | |
Friday, June 17, 2022 - 7:00pm | Fri 17.06 | 19h00 | |
Saturday, June 18, 2022 - 2:00pm | Sat 18.06 | 14h00 | |
Saturday, June 25, 2022 - 2:00pm Add to Calendar |
Sat 25.06 | 14h00 |
RATES
Rate S for one episode from CHF. 5.- to 25.-
Rate XL for the full two-day event from CHF. 20.- to 55.-
The four episodes can be seen independently of each other (in the evening from 14 to 17.06, duration 2h30) or in full over two days (18 and 19.06 and 25 and 26.06, duration 7h on Saturday and 4h on Sunday, from 9.30 am).
Meeting point: Epalinges, Bois de la Chapelle
(Access: bus 45 from Croisettes (terminus M2), to Marcel Regamey stop).
Remember to take good shoes, a wool shirt if the weather is cool or a raincoat if it is threatening.
Drinks and food will be available on the weekends of June 18-19 and 25-26.
Director
Mathias Brossard a grandi dans les Cevennes. Il se forme ensuite au jeu d’acteur à Paris au sein de l’École Charles Dullin et à La Manufacture à Lausanne tout en poursuivant en parallèle un cursus de philosophie à l’Université Paris 8. À sa sortie, il se tourne également vers la mise en scène en assistant Denis Maillefer, Nicolas Stemann ou François Gremaud, ainsi qu’en développant ses premières créations. Il est partisan d’un théâtre décloisonné et cherche des manières d’occuper artistiquement et politiquement des lieux publics en déshérence. Il cofonde en 2014 La Filiale Fantôme avec Romain Daroles et François-Xavier Rouyer et intègre dès sa création, en 2015, le collectif CCC - ensemble de Comédiennes et Comédiens à Ciel ouvert qui partagent le goût pour une pratique épique d’un théâtre in situ. C’est avec ce collectif qu’il initie une série de laboratoires autour de Platonov de Tchekhov au cœur d’une forêt cévenole. En 2018, il collabore avec François-Xavier Rouyer sur La Possession, spectacle coproduit par le Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne et participe en 2021 au Théâtre des futurs possibles, qui vient clore un cycle de rencontres et d’expérimentation collective avec la philosophe Vinciane Despret.
Texte
Anton Tchekhov
Traduction
Françoise Morvan
André Markowicz
Mise en scène
Mathias Brossard
Musique
Alexandre Ménéxiadis
Régie et logistique
Achille Dubau
Robin Dupuis
Costumes
Marie Romanens
Administration, production et diffusion
Marianne Aguado, Guyves Tabrizian - ISKANDAR
Avec
Romain Daroles
Robin Dupuis
Judith Goudal
Cécile Goussard
Magali Heu
Arnaud Huguenin
Lara Khattabi
Jonas Lambelet
Chloë Lombard
Loïc Le Cam
Loïc Le Manac'h
Adrien Mani
Mélina Martin
Leon David Salazar
Margot Van Hove
Production
La Filiale Fantôme et le Collectif CCC
Coproduction
Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne ▼ - Comédie de Genève - Scènes-Croisées de Lozère - Théâtre de Mende
Avec le soutien de
Ville de Lausanne - Fondation Philanthropique Famille Sandoz - Fondation suisse des artistes interprètes SIS - Fondation Jan Michalski pour l'écriture et la littérature - Société coopérative Migros Vaud - Fondation Pierre et Nouky Bataillard - Fondation Leenaards - Fondation du Casino Barrière de Montreux - Loterie Romande Vaud - Fonds d’encouragement à l'emploi des intermittent.e.s genevois.es (FEEIG)
En partenariat avec le Parc naturel du Jorat
Propositions de lectures pour poursuivre le spectacle autrement (livres en vente à la librairie du Théâtre):
In the heights of Lausanne, the forests of Epalinges are located on flat grounds but also in wooded valleys where they exert a function of protection against natural dangers. These forests are mostly composed of deciduous trees, the main species being the beech. Rich in biodiversity, they are home to roe deer, wild boar, deer and badgers.