Philippe Quesne
Cosmic Drama
© Cosmic Drama, Philippe Quesne © Martin Argyroglo ©
© Cosmic Drama, Philippe Quesne © Martin Argyroglo ©
© Cosmic Drama, Philippe Quesne © Martin Argyroglo ©
Design, staging and stage design, Philippe Quesne
Artistic collaboration, Élodie Dauguet
Video, David Fortmann, Lukas Wiedmer
Stage work, Angela Osthof, Camille Louis
Lights, Benjamin Hauser
With Raphael Clamer, Jean-Charles Dumay, Annika Meier, Julian Anatol Schneider, Gala Othero Winter
General management, Martine Staerk
Set, Fabio Gaggetta
Light, Pierre-Nicolas Moulin
Sound, Janyves Coïc
Video, Nicolas Gerlier
Dresser/Perruque, Viviane Lima
Subhead, Marion Schwartz
Production, Elizabeth Gay
Produced by Theater Basel
With support from the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès as part of its New Settings program
Broadcast by Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne
Co-directed by MC93 – Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis (Bobigny); Festival d’Automne à Paris
In its adoption of the codes of the Hollywood space opera genre, Cosmic Drama sets up the possibility of an encounter and a dialogue between the human and the mineral. In this evocative, burlesque piece, Philippe Quesne brings us a carefully scrutinized community of the living.
In a post-destruction era, a meteorite spaceship navigates a path through the fog and weightless rocks and sets down. It resembles an ark in which is preserved the last remnants of nature, art and human civilisation. How can we inhabit this earth? Is it our place to do so? It is these questions that the individuals from outer space, who have returned to planet earth only to find paltry stones and asteroids, will endeavour to find answers to. In order to evoke this possible coming together of the human and the mineral, Cosmic Drama draws upon the codes of science-fiction cinema of the 1950’s and 1960’s, with its characteristic mixture of papier mâché and Hollywood musical soundscapes. Indeed, Philippe Quesne’s piece has something of the spectacular about it, but scaled down to man and piles of pebbles. He uses it as the means for a lucid, caring examination of a small group of endearing characters. Machinery, flights, special effects and projections bring to life this utopian science-fiction fable which alternates between the melancholic and the burlesque. It is also a vision of the theatre as a place to be rediscovered.
In the same place
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Committing moving bodies to a contemporary form of orality, Soa Ratsifandrihana, the guitarist Joël Rabesolo and performers Audrey Mérilus and Stanley Ollivier draw on their diasporic narratives and origins to tell a story they would have liked to hear or see. The three Malagasy words Fampitaha, fampita, fampitàna, meaning comparison, transmission and rivalry, form variations in which the performers slide in and out of different states and seem to follow a movement in perpetual metamorphosis.
Jeanne Balibar Les Historiennes
Three women return from the past thanks to three female contemporary historians who bring them back to life via three separate accounts. Here, the actress Jeanne Balibar uses them as the basis for a staged reading. Four women from today’s world take a particularly eloquent and incisive look at three emblematic female destinies.
Nacera Belaza La Nuée
With a reputation for minimalist and captivating choreographies, Nacera Belaza continues the exploration of the circle and rhythm she initiated with Le Cercle (2019) and L'Onde (2021), both landmarks in her choreographic language. Following on from an initial period of creation in Brussels in May 2024, the choreographer then enlarged the creative process of La Nuée by inviting ten new performers to the stage.
Stefan Kaegi (Rimini Protokoll) This is not an embassy (Made in Taiwan)
Rimini Protokoll's roving director Stefan Kaegi takes us, in the company of three native performers and residents, to the island of Taiwan. The fictional element of this show, in which the onstage action filmed live takes us through the twists and turns of a miniature décor, points to a somewhat grotesque geopolitical reality.
Rosana Cade, Ivor MacAskill The Making of Pinocchio
Drawing upon Collodi's tale, the Cade-MacAskill duo uses theatre to investigate the little- explored realms of queer love and affection. In doing so, they tell the story of gender transition and its repercussions on the couple. The piece itself, The Making of Pinocchio, becomes a burlesque-inspired manifesto for different forms currently under construction.
Joël Pommerat Marius
Inspired by the work of Marcel Pagnol, this show explores the theme of escape. Some of the actors had their first experience of theatre at the Maison centrale d'Arles prison. Marius provides audiences with a unique opportunity to discover a little-known but crucial dimension of Joël Pommerat's art.