Kurō Tanino
Maître obscur
septembersept 19 - october – oct 19
© Jean Louis Fernandez ©
© Jean Louis Fernandez ©
© Jean Louis Fernandez ©
Thursday september 19
20h
Friday september 20
20h
Saturday september 21
18h
Sunday september 22
16h
Monday september 23
20h
Thursday september 26
20h
Friday september 27
20h
Saturday september 28
18h
Sunday september 29
16h
Monday september 30
20h
Thursday october 3
20h
Friday october 4
20h
Saturday october 5
18h
Sunday october 6
16h
Monday october 7
20h
Written and directed by Kurō Tanino. Translation Miyako Slocombe. Artistic collaborations Masato Nomura, Kyoko Takenaka. Scenography Michiko Inada. Lighting design Diane Guérin. Sound design Vanessa Court. Video Boris Van Overtveldt. Props Zoé Hersent. Set construction Théo Jouffroy – Ateliers du Théâtre de Gennevilliers. With Stéphanie Béghain, Lorry Hardel, Mathilde Invernon, Jean-Luc Verna, Gaëtan Vourc’h.
Project organised by the T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Centre Dramatique National; The Japan Foundation and Arche LCC
Production T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Centre Dramatique National
Coproduction Comédie de Genève ; Festival d'Automne à Paris ; Bonlieu Scène nationale Annecy
The T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Centre Dramatique National and the Festival d'Automne à Paris are co-producers and present this show in co-realisation.
With the support of
In partnership with
In what ways does the unstoppable development of artificial intelligence (AI) permeate our lives and behaviour? Kurō Tanino, playwright of the poetry of our everyday lives and the imperceptible movements of the psyche, brings to the stage a world in which technology reveals the depths of our unconscious.
Known for his realistic stage designs, the purpose of which is to convey the inherent strangeness of our contemporary existences, this new work sees the Japanese director being invited for the fifth time to the Autumn Festival. Here he presents a play inspired by his previous work The Dark Master (2016). With a cast of French performers, Maître obscur immerses five characters in a daily life rehabilitation controlled, controlled by a solitary AI device which seeks to emulate the cognitive abilities of human beings. Inside a flat or apartment from the 1970s and 1980s, a disembodied voice guides the protagonists as though they were subjects of a social psychology experiment. Over the course of seemingly insignificant actions such as cooking or drinking coffee, they build up an increasingly intimate relationship with their invisible companion. We ask ourselves the following question: is the latter some form of well-meaning master or an instrument of control? At the crossroads between philosophical tale and dystopia, Kurō Tanino's play centres upon an ingenious use of sound and video. It allows us to examine both the political dimensions of these technologies, and the subtle complexities of the human soul.
In the same place
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