Paroles gelées (Frozen words)

Based on the work of François Rabelais Adaptation by Camille de La Guillonnière, Jean Bellorini

Stage direction Jean Bellorini

Premiere January 2012 On tour since 2011-2012

Contact production projects manager

Jean-Baptiste Pasquier / jb.pasquier@theatregerardphilipe.com

Tél. +33(0)1 48 13 70 00 - +33 (0)6 79 04 57 04 Théâtre Gérard Philipe, centre dramatique national de Saint-Denis

59, boulevard Jules Guesde - 93200 Saint-Denis - FRANCE

Le Théâtre Gérard Philipe, Centre Dramatique National de Saint-Denis

is a place for theatrical creation, co-production and touring. It is managed by the stage director Jean Bellorini

starting January 2014, accompagnied by his artistic group. His dominant theme is creation, transmission and

education. He aims to be poetic, joyful, deeply ingrained in his territory. A place of thought, invention, where past

and future are questionned. Here is a place where we can express our uncertainties, doubts, our difficulties to

speak out and to listen. The TGP becomes a home for us all.

Paroles gelées

"In the evening, thanks to a few sous, which he always finds means to procure, the homuncio enters a theatre.

On crossing that magic threshold, he becomes transfigured; he was the street Arab, he becomes the titi.

Theatres are a sort of ship turned upside down with the keel in the air. It is in that keel that the titi huddle

together.

This being bawls and scoffs and ridicules and fights, has rags like a baby and tatters like a philosopher, fishes in

the sewer, hunts in the cesspool, extracts mirth from foulness, whips up the squares with his wit, grins and

bites, whistles and sings, shouts, and shrieks, tempers Alleluia with Matanturlurette, chants every rhythm from

the De Profundis to the Jack-pudding, finds without seeking, knows what he is ignorant of, is a Spartan to the

point of thieving, is mad to wisdom, is lyrical to filth, would crouch down on Olympus, wallows in the dunghill and

emerges from it covered with stars. The gamin of Paris is Rabelais in this youth. "

(Excerpt from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo) Based on François Rabelais Adaptation Jean Bellorini et Camille de la Guillonnière Stage Direction, Lighting Design Jean Bellorini With Marc Bollengier, François Deblock, Patrick Delattre, Karyll Elgrichi, Samuel Glaumé, Camille de la Guillonnière, Benjamin Guillard, Jacques Hadjaje, Gosha Kowalinska, Blanche Leleu, Clara Mayer, Geoffroy Rondeau, Hugo Sablic Stage Design Laurianne Scimemi, Jean Bellorini Costumes Laurianne Scimemi assisted by Delphine Capossela Musicale score Jean Bellorini, Marc Bollengier, Patrick Delattre, Hugo Sablic, Henry Purcell, Gabriel Fauré Sound creation Joan Cambon Stage ans Lights managment Luc Muscillo Sound managment Sébastien Trouvé, Vanessa Court Technical stage managment Ivan Assaël, Guillaume Chapeleau Set construction Ateliers du TNT under the direction of Claude Gaillard Production Jean-Baptiste Pasquier Duration : 2h15 Paroles gelées received the following awards:

• Jean-Jacques Lerrant Award from the Syndicat de la Critique/theatrical revelation of the year (2012)

• Stage Directing Award at the Palmarès du Théâtre (2013) • Molière Award for Stage Director of a public theatre show (2014) • Molière Award for a public theatre (2014)

Co-production : TGP-CDN of Saint-Denis, Compagnie Air de Lune, TNT – Toulouse National Theatre / Midi-Pyrénées, Arc en Scènes/TPR (La Chaux de Fonds). In partnership with 104 - Etablissement artistique de la Ville de Paris and the Bureau formART. With the help of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication/DRAC Ile-de-France, Arcadi and the Council of Seine-Saint-Denis.

Interview with Jean Bellorini After his hugolian Tempête sous un crâne, Jean Bellorini ventures into more distant, yet equally unexpected lands. This time it is an invitation to travel. Rabelais is on the lookout. You like to adapt for the stage works that aren't initially intended for it... I'm sensitive to the density of any given text, to its lyricism and its force. And I find in those literary works, in Hugo or in Rabelais, like the remnant of a collective unconscious: these texts affect us because they contain the memory of something, a bygone era that talks to us and that is a carrier of poetry. The name alone Gargantua, if only for the adjective it gave rise to, evokes in us an echo full of associations. How did you tackle Rabelais' s writing? I tried to detach myself from all that is about gigantism, from this well-known imaginary world. It didn't prevent me from coming back to it – likewise for its scatological dimension – during rehearsals: these are fundamental elements of the Rabelaisian style that you can't just conceal. I gave priority to the concrete appropriation by the actors of the pithiness of language – to the point of logorrhoea. I wanted them to grab by the horns the profusion and outpouring, to confront it with their own energy, enthusiasm or tiredness to the point of throwing themselves heart and soul into it. It's especially true since we're dealing here with a world of extremes, where we can come across almost dantesque violence as much as jubilation. Rabelais confronts us with inner storms, which can be fears, dreams or even ideals. Why choose Le Quart Livre (the Fourth Book) as the show's backbone? It's the book that affects me the most, that's the most intimate, even though it's much heavier, much more difficult than the others. Simply because through this great journey told by Rabelais, there's something like a committed dream, a more or less conceded utopia, symbolising the things we – with our troupe – want to perform in the theatre. Panurge and his companions have almost lost their gigantic status to reach a more human size: the relationship between Pantagruel and Panurge becomes more like that of a master and servant, not that of the giant and the dwarf. The journey they undertake is a quest, a means to see more of the world, to always learn more, even at the risk of danger. It's like a theatrical journey: a journey with words, the words of the performers attempting to share their adventure with the audience. And this journey is made possible by a humanity that's more accessible than the gigantism and all its fantasies. Why choose to title this adaptation Paroles gelées, "frozen words", which is ultimately a rather brief episode in the peregrinations of The Fourth Book? Because I wanted this show to contribute to the revitalising of a language frozen by the literary tradition. And mostly because, in the odd and indefinable space of theatre, the power of the word goes beyond the realm of the visible and of the meaningful. What is the theatrical adaptation of the word if not a "thawing" of language, an attempt at making it intimate, proper, personal? This is the story I want to tell, this is the age-old dream of writers and philosophers that expresses the wealth and the power of words.

Interview by JL Pélissou

Paroles Gelées, a theatrical adventure in a fantastical, hellish and supernatural world.

Paroles Gelées, a show with songs for thirteen stage actors-musicians-workers. The project is to adapt the work of François Rabelais, mainly the Fourth Book but also allowing ourselves to draw from other parts. The Fourth Book is an allegorical and satirical journey through a terrible and unknown world. The adventurous seafaring of Pantagruel towards the oracle of Truth ends before they can reach the island of the Holy Bottle. It is indeed beneath the veil of a geographical fiction that Rabelais brings a universal significance to his satire. While pretending to study the customs of those islands punctuating this sea voyage, his only goal is to describe the social and religious quirks and prejudices of his time – being here flouted and ridiculed with vehement irony. Each stopover in one of these imaginary lands, each tale becomes a metaphor and includes a lesson in morality. All the islands, all the monstrous inhabitants dwelling on them, all the sea creatures and other natural phenomena are just as many obstacles on the path to Truth. A journey through the "shit of the world" and "the madness of the world". Rabelais concludes, according to popular belief, that: "[The world] is coming to an end." In the Fourth Book, Panurge's voyage is like a journey into hell, like a pilgrimage that can allow Panurge to purify himself from "the madness of the world" and to reach the revelation of mysteries. Rabelais himself reveals the hidden meaning of this navigation in order to show the intellectual and free character of this quest. Finally, neither Pantagruel's nor Panurge's quest succeeds. Hopping from island to island, Pantragruel's navigation becomes more of a drift. It remains within the black confines of an uncertain future. Rabelais's innermost thoughts are solidified in a word that shows up time after time: Pantragruelism. His philosophical, political and religious ideas appear on the surface under the form of precepts, reflections. The allusion to Pantagruelism in the prologue to the Fourth Book reveals a conception of life that can be summed up by the notion of stoical detachment and Pantagruelian joie de vivre. Rabelais embraces all languages with his heart and soul and jumbles them all in a great burst of laughter. He invents an unrivalled, polyphonic, impure, insolent, shimmering language that joyously blends the high and the low, the shit and the stars, sex and spirituality, burlesque farces and spiritual quest. Rabelais speaks of us. Of our time. A time where, as in the 16th century, dominant ideologies are collapsing while

mankind sets off to conquer new worlds: yesterday the lands of a concrete world, today those of the invisible. A time where it is also necessary to hear humanistic values. There's so much you can draw on in this work that mirrors our own era: the fight for the liberation of words and bodies, the quest for an ideal pedagogy, the attacks against religious fanaticism, the denunciation of wars and conquest... My first aim was to make our language heard, sing, vibrate and dance from its very birth, during this instant of transition from the Middle-Ages into the Renaissance, where the wealth of both periods intermingle – the explosive times of a transforming world, of a world of contradictions. Paroles Geléees is meant to be an act of faith in language: an open, pithy, mixed, multi-coloured language, at the same time erudite and popular, and which can only survive by ceaselessly reinventing itself. The show will be performed in an original language, the language of a contemporary Rabelais, spoken by contemporary men and women. There is no will whatsoever to do a historical reconstitution. The adaptation work will be bound by the choices of the narrated episodes as much as by the balance – more precisely by the blending – of the language in its original version with the modern translation. The language carried by the performers will be a "new foreign language". Rabelais writes first and foremost for the general public. His style is itself theatrical. It is meant to be read out loud, as loud as possible, on a makeshift stage set up in the middle of the crowd. Then everything becomes clear and simple, and you can take the same pleasure in listening to and savouring this meaty language as would the exiled man returning home and dazzled, finding the forgotten accents of his homeland. In the Fourth Book, a text mentions frozen words in the farthest reaches of a sea of ice that you can defrost by warming them up "against oneself" in order for the words to appear. This will be the pivotal point of our adaptation: the origin of words. Popular music, joyful tunes, as a hymn to life, to survival, because here there will be singing and dancing in the honor of language and life. This music, when magnified, will switch to lyricism, always combining the classic with the modern! Theatre craft and its machinery will be at the core of stage design and the treatment of language. We claim the freedom to "imagine" for the audience thanks to the space left to poetry. The stage allows for a direct exchange, a confrontation with the audience that is impossible in society. Space and language are poetic material. Looseness and dizziness associated with space, coming from the actor’s tremor and breathing. Taking blanks and silences into consideration to reveal the intimate truth of each member of the audience. The company undertakes a collective adventure, thus undertaking is a popular epic tale. The work of Rabelais is an initiatory journey, a pursuit of knowledge. A story of adventure filled with storms, monsters, wars, fairs, and legendary islands. A journey during which the wine becomes a metaphor, a sign of the cultural and almost religious bond uniting mankind to its roots. And the appearance of the Divine Bottle, by the end of the epic journey, reads as a Mozart-like hymn to life, brotherhood and spiritual knowledge. Rabelais spent his life fighting injustice and prejudice which stand in the way of science, wisdom and happiness, and, at a time when passions were intense, he managed to remain calm and clear-headed. He tried to create harmony between opposing concepts: God and man, angel and demon,

good and evil, body and soul, matter and spirit, immanence and transcendence, idea and action. This is a mix of what Rabelais lived, how he wanted to live, in freedom, peace and happiness, and of what he was afraid to live at the time. This fantastic quest encompasses a hidden truth under the cover of folly and farce. The show is an act of resistance because it claims that reconciliation is possible between Man and the universe, as at the beginning of Renaissance. Rabelais glorifies the worship of nature, of souls and bodies, of force and action.

Jean Bellorini

Jean Bellorini Art Director for Compagnie Air de Lune / TGP-CDN de Saint-Denis / Stage Director / Composer STAGE DIRECTION 2002 Piaf, l’Ombre de la Rue - Théâtre du Renard (Paris)

Re-staged in Avignon and on tour throughout France 2003 La Mouette (The Seagull) by Anton Tchekhov assisted by

Marie Ballet at the Théâtre du Soleil as part of the first edition of the Festival Premiers Pas Enfants de Troupes

2004 Yerma by F. G. Lorca with Marie Ballet at the Théâtre du Soleil, for which he composed the music

2006 Oncle Vania (Uncle Vania) by Anton Tchekhov at the Théâtre de la Faisanderie in Chantilly 2008 L’Opérette, un acte de L’Opérette Imaginaire by Valère Novarina with Marie Ballet at the Théâtre de la

Cité Internationale 2010 Tempête Sous un Crâne, a two-era show taken from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo at the Théâtre du

Soleil – Adaptation by Jean Bellorini and Camille de La Guillonnière On tour since 2010

En ce temps-là l’amour…. by and with Gilles Ségal at the Théâtre du Soleil 2012 Paroles Gelées, from François Rabelais, adaptation of the Quart-livre and other texts by Rabelais with

Camille De La Guillonnière, musical composition First staged at the Théâtre national de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées and shown at the TGP-CDN of Saint-Denis and then on tour

2012/13 (project for June 2013) Liliom (ou la vie et la mort d’un vaurien) by Ferenc Molnár

First staged as part of the festival Printemps des Comédiens in Montpellier 2013/14 (project for the Autumn 2013) La bonne âme du Se-Tchouan (The Good Person of Setzuan) by Bertolt Brecht First staged at the Théâtre national of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées OPERA STAGE DIRECTION 2009 Barbe Bleue, opéra bouffe d’Offenbach, at the Opéra of Fribourg

On tour in Switzerland, at the Théâtre Musical of Besançon, Opéra de Massy and in Belgium 2012 Soirée Satie, invited by the Academy of the Aix-en-Provence Festival

On tour in France and in Belgium

In parallel, Jean Bellorini is very active in the field of training and teaching. He’s a teacher since 2002 at the Saint Michel de Picpus school in Paris, where he works with more than a hundred pupils every year in various repertoires. Since 2003 he’s in charge of the professional auditions of the Claude Mathieu school, where he’s also been teaching regularly since 2005. He also works since 2008 at the CRR for the Choir of Paris. Jean Bellorini is an invited artist at the National Theatre of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées until the end of 2013. The Compagnie Air de Lune was in residency at the Théâtre Gérard Philipe of Saint Denis until 2013. Jean Bellorini won the Jean-Jacques Gautier award in 2012 from the SACD and the Best Newcomer award from the French Syndicate of Critics. In January 2014, Jean Bellorini was appointed director of the Théâtre Gérard Philipe, National Art Center for Drama of Saint-Denis (TGP-CDN de Saint-Denis). The repertory of the Compagnie Air de Lune becomes the repertory of the TGP-CDN de Saint-Denis.

The artistic team

Marc Bollengier He was trained by Stéphane Logerot and Richard Myron, and was awarded a first prize of Jazz and traditional double bass. He studied with Bernard Maury, Frederic Favarel, Denis Colin, and Malo Valois. He has played with Ronald Baker, Laurent Cugny, Nicolas Folmer, Franck Agulhon, Brice Wassy, Aldo Romano, Chris Cody, Xavier Cobo , David Liebman, Joe Makholm, Jeff Hoffman, Sarah Lazarus, Freya, Kicca Intrigo. He is the prizewinner of the 2006 and 2007 jazz contests in Vannes and in Poitiers. He played in jazz festivals in Marciac, Le Mans, Cervione, Poitiers, Vannes, Orléans, Sibiu and in the following clubs in Paris: Duc des Lombards, New Morning, Sunset, Petit Journal Montparnasse, Caveau de ma Huchette. Directed by Jean Bellorini and Marie Ballet he played in L’Opérette imaginaire, by Valère Novarina. François Deblock In 1999, he began acting and musical theatre classes under the direction of Jean and Thomas Bellorini. He studied at Ecole Claude Mathieu, from 2006 to 2009, and was then admitted to the Conservatoire national d’art dramatique de Paris. He left the school in 2013 to go on tour with Paroles gelées, a part for which he was awarded the Prix Beaumarchais de la révélation (Most promising young actor). He also appeared in several movies, including Les petit Princes, by Vianney Lebasque, and Fonzy, by Isabelle Doval. He was awarded the Molière de la révélation masculine (Best Male Newcomer) for his part in Chère Elena, directed by Didier Long. He has performed under the direction of Jean Bellorini in La bonne âme du Se-tchouan. Karyll Elgrichi She made her stage debuts in 1993 at Théâtre de l’Alphabet, before she started taking classes at Ecole Claude Mathieu. She completed her training in classes taught by Philippe Adrien, Hélène Cinque (clown work and mask theatre). She then worked with Carole Thibault (Puisque tu es des miens, by Daniel Keene, and Et jamais nous ne serons séparés, by John Foss), Alain Gautré (L’Avare, by Molière, Impasse des anges, Alain Gautré) Vincente Pradal (Yerma, Frederico Garcia Lorca). She appeared in movies such as P-A-R-A-D-A, by Marco Pontecorvo, and Je vous ai compris by Franck Chiche, and collaborates with Ilana Navaro for Arte radio. Under the direction of Jean Bellorini and Marie Ballet she performed in Un violon sur le toit, by Jerry Bock and Joseph Stein, La Mouette and, Oncle Vania, by Anton Tchekhov, Yerma, by Federico Garcia Lorca, and L’Opérette, by Valère Novarina. She continued working with Jean Bellorini on Tempête sous un crâne, an adaptation of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, and La bonne âme du Se-tchouan, by Bertolt Brecht. In 2015, she is performing in Trissotin ou les femmes savants, by Molière, direction by Macha Makeïeff. Fany Germond She took classes at the Le Mans conservatory taught by Eleonora Rossi, and crossed paths with many artists such as Laurent Brethome or Didier Lastere. She directed and acted in Huis Clos by Sartre, 4.48Psychose by Sarah Kane and La Nuit au Cirque by Olivier Py. She performed in Funérailles d'hiver by Hanock Levin directed by Laurent Pelly in 2010 and in J'ai examiné une ampoule électrique et j'en ai été satisfait based on Daniil Harms’ work, also directed by Laurent Pelly in 2011. In 2012, she acted in Paroles Gelées based on Rabelais’ work and directed by Jean

Bellorini. In 2013, she acted in La Mélancolie des barbares by Koffi Kwahulé directed by Sébastien Bournac. Samuel Glaumé He began his training in cours Périmony, before being admitted in the Ecole Claude Mathieu, from which he graduated in 2009. He played in La Cantatrice chauve by Ionesco, directed by Matthieu Lermite, Enfant de la Terre, by Julien Avril, directed by Clémentine Niewdanski and Geoffroy Rondeau, La Noce by Brecht, directed by Camille de La Guillonnère, and Citoyen Podsékalnikov based on Le Suicidé by Nicolaï Erdman, directed by Jean Bellorini. He has also appeared on several short films among which Je sors le couteau by Raphaël Neira, Métro, la Menace Fantôme by Adrien Tijeras, Surprise Partie by Nicolas Wallyn. Benjamin Guillard He studied at Ecole Claude Mathieu from 1998 to 2001 then at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique from 2011 to 2014, where he acted under the direction of Muriel Mayette at the Comédie Française’s Studio (La Dispute, L ‘épreuve, Les acteurs de bonne foi, texts by Marivaux), Philippe Adrien (Yvonne, princesse de Bourgogne and Meurtres de la princesses juive), Alain Gautré (L’avare), Claude Ponti (Bonjour and Où sont les mamans), Julia Vidit (Fantasio), Juliette de Charnacé at MC93 (L’hymne à l’amour). He directed several shows: Salut à Jean Ferrat at Théâtre 71 Malakoff, La nuit Satie at Cité de la Musique, Les compliments with François Morel, Paparazzi ou la chronique d’un lever de soleil by Matei Visniec at Théâtre du Conservatoire. He shot short films that have been shown in many festivals. He also appeared in the movie in Le crime est notre affaire by Pascal Thomas. Camille de la Guillonnière He went to Ecole Claude Mathieu from 2003 to 2006, started his own company in 2005 and directed L'orchestre by Jean Anouilh, Après la pluie by Sergi Belbel and Tango by Slawomir Mrozek. With these plays he developped the poject “la Tournée des villages” a touring network in a rural environment in Maine et Loire region. Après la pluie and Tango were also put on at Théâtre du Soleil as part of the festival "Premiers pas". He performed in Le songe d'une nuit d'été directed by M. Vaiana In 2008 and 2009, he assisted Jean Bellorini in directing professional auditions for Ecole Claude Mathieu and collaborated with him as co-writer and actor on several shows, including Tempête sous un crâne and La bonne âme du Se-Tchouan by Bertolt Brecht. In 2015, he is acting in and is the assistant director of Trissotin ou les femmes savantes, by Molière, directed by Macha Makeïeff. Jacques Hadjaje He is an actor as well as an author, a stage director, and a teacher. He wrote La mouche et l’Océan, Lucien, Dis-leur que la vérité est belle, Entre-temps, j’ai continué à vivre, and Adèle a ses raisons. He directed L’échange by Claudel at the Centre dramatique national of Nancy, À propos d’aquarium based on Karl Valentin’s work at Théâtre de Proposition, Innocentines by René de Obaldia at the Fanal and several contemporary original pieces by Catherine Zambon, Valérie Deronzier or Joël Beaumont among others. He also directed the staging of his own texts. He teaches at different actor training schools (Ecole Claude Mathieu, Le Magasin…), and directed writing and acting workshops for amateurs and schoolkids as well as professional training courses on clown work (Lausanne). Regarding his acting work, he has performed in several shows under the direction of Georges Werler, Nicolas Serreau, Gilbert Rouvière, François Cervantès, Patrice Kerbrat, Jean-Pierre Loriol, Florence Giorgetti, Sophie Lannefranque,

Richard Brunel, Robert Cantarella, Romain Bonnin, Balazs Gera, Carole Thibaut, Gérard Audax, Michel Cochet, Jean-Yves Ruf, Thierry Roisin, Pierre Guillois… He played under the direction of Jean Bellorini in La bonne âme du Se-Tchouan and Liliom Gosha Kowalinska She got into the Ecole Normale de Musique of Paris and in 2008 she obtained the Diplôme Supérieur d’Exécution de chant as well as the Brevet de classe de scène. Gosha graduated in 2009 from Ecole Claude Mathieu, in Art et Techniques de l’Acteur in Paris, and she trained there with teachers such as Claude Mathieu, Sylvie Artel, Diana Ringel, Jean Bellorini, Marcela Obregon, Marc Schapira... In 2008, she played in Angels in America by Tony Kushner directed by Aurélien Gomis and in Citoyen Podsékalnikov ! based on texts written by Nicolaï Erdman and Mikhaïl Boulgakov and directed by Jean Bellorini. Gosha is regularly invited to sing at Festival Arts et Vignes of the Drôme region and gives concerts in Paris. She performed in Madama Butterfly by Puccini, Don Chichotte by Martini, Carmen by George Bizet, as well as several opera aria, duet and sacred music concerts: Stabat Mater by Pergolesi, Te Deum by Charpentier… She also performed a speaking and singing part in Athalie by Jean Racine based on an original musical composition by Jean-Baptiste Moreau directed by Tonia Galievsky. Later, he appeared in Rigoletto by Verdi directed by Alan Magnatta, in Nabucco by Verdi directed by Bruno Membre, in Falstaff by Verdi. Clara Mayer She started her training in 2004 at Ecole Claude Mathieu. She took part in the school’s professional audition directed by Jean Bellorini, consisting of an ensemble of texts by Noëlle Renaude. She then played in the show Le Pays de Rien, a children’s play by Nathalie Papin directed by Clara Domingo. She was admitted into Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique. Under the direction of Jean Bellorini, she performed in Tempête sous un crâne, La bonne âme du Se-tchouan, Liliom. Geoffroy Rondeau He studied at Cours Florent and Ecole Claude Mathieu. He acted under the direction of Julie Goudard (L’ours, la demande en marriage by Anton Tchekhov), Léonie Pingeot and Gwladys Saligné (Jeux de mots laids pour gens bête, an adaptation of Bobby Lapointe), Damien Bricoteaux (Je vois des choses que vous ne voyez pas, by Geneviève Brisac), Gilbert Desveaux (Other people, by Christopher Shinn), and Clementine Niewdanski (Peau d’âne by Charles Perrault). He appeared in the movies Leur Morale… et la Nôtre, by Florence Quentin, and Après le deluge by Gao Xinjian. Under the direction of Jean Bellorini, he acted in L’Opérette, by Valère Novarina, co-directed by Marie Ballet, Tempête sous un crâne, and La bonne âme du Se-tchouan. In 2015 he is acting in Trissotin ou les femmes savants, directed by Macha Makeïeff.

Blanche Leleu After studying at Cours Florent, Blanche Leleu was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique de Paris, where she worked with Dominique Valadié, Nada Strancar, Youri Pogrebnitchko, Jacques Rebotier and took dance lessons with Caroline Marcadé. Then, she acted under the direction of Gabriel Dufay in Push up by R. Schimmelpfennig, Alain Gautré in Impasse des Anges, Jean-Marie Besset in Il faut qu’une porte soit ouverte ou fermée inspired by Alfred de Musset, Arnaud Denis in Ce qui arrive et ce qu’on attend, by Jean-Marie Besset. She appeared in various short films, under the direction of Pierre Mazingharbe and Pierre Daignère. She also played in the docu-drama Darwin revolution by Patricia Tourancheau. Under the direction of Jean Bellorini, she performed in La bonne âme du Se-Tchouan. Hugo Sablic Actor and musician (drums), Hugo is also a composer and a stage director. He was the art director for the company La Boîte du Souffleur along with Jean Barlerin. He trained at Ecole Claude Mathieu from which he graduated in 2008. In the same year, he performed in Le Misanthrope et l’Auvergnat by Labiche, under the direction of Jean Barlerin and Chrystèle Lequiller. In 2009, he directed Le Magicien d’Oz together with Maud Bouchat and acted in Graine d’escampette ; a play written and directed by Lucie Leroy. He appeared in several films (Mes proches, by Alexandre Da Silva, L’homme que l’on aimait trop, André Téchiné). He directed his first short film, Monsieur Paul, and is currently working on several other movies. Under the direction of Jean Bellorini, he performed in Tempête sous un crâne and La bonne âme du Se-tchouan.

Press review

LONG LIVE THE ARTIST! PRESSURIZED BY THE MARKET, SOMETIMES REDUCED TO MERE CULTURAL MIDDLEMEN, ACTORS AND DANCERS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT DOWN FROM THEIR PEDESTAL. HOW ARE THEY STILL UNIQUE? A SEMINAR HELD IN RENNES IS THE PERFECT MOMENT FOR TELERAMA TO INQUIRE INTO TODAY’S ARTIST’S LIFE. (…) Between disruption and transmission Cartoucherie de Vincennes (Paris), October, 7th. The rehearsal room of Théâtre du Soleil has become a fine, beautiful theatre. This is where the company Air de Lune settled for the second time, invited by Ariane Mnouckine to put on Tempête sous un crâne (Tempest in a Skull), an adaptation based on Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo, and directed by Jean Bellorini. Solid theatre, played and sung by young and very young professional actors, all working exclusively in the performing arts, most of them having graduated from Ecole Claude Mathieu (Paris). Some efficient acting, homemade by people that handpicked themselves, with strong characters and a story. Being at the avant-garde, breaking new grounds at all costs, breaking with the past, either close or far, none of that seems to make sense in the eyes of these young people. They have something completely different in mind. Some sort of joint creation, an accepted modesty, a true craving for a connection with the audience or even the intensity of a shared human experience. Today, there are eight of them telling their artist’s stories and the odd modernity they have. Air de lune is currently being helped to develop its projects, i.e. the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles of the Ile-de-France region studies the projects to support on a case by case basis. Futhermore, it enjoyed a exceptional one-year residence, without any expectation, backed by the Seine-Saint-Denis (93) district, on the île-Saint-Denis, within the walls of the Paul-Sisley school. The first version of Tempête sous un crâne was created in this school. As none of the actors were willing to speak only themselves,- but rather as a collective discourse, here are their words. “Hugo gave us a common breathing, the taste of working collectively in the same direction. The show allowed us to meet with our own youth, our weakness. We were also able to assess what a popular theatre could be today. We did not meet with Vilar, Dasté, Copeau or any other great ancestors. We might be trying to make something new out of something old. The only thing we can want is for the theatre to be a place to grow and change for each of us. The stage creates a direct interaction, a confrontation and an appreciation our society does not grant anymore. Here we are free... We refuse to make a choice between creating new things and sticking to consensual creations. Today, it is possible to be an artist fully aware of the past. To connect with our inner selves and with the universe. To be close to Ariane Mnouchkine without being hindered. The fact that all has been done in the theatre may not prevent us from living out a utopia, merely by being individuals choosing to get together. In the chaos currently taking place, even on the brink of disaster, we continue to believe that art changes the world.

Dossier Télérama – by Daniel Conrod (October 2010)

"Punchy, fostered by inventions and songs, this show takes us to Rabelaisland, more specifically to The Fourth Book, where, on an island, Panurge and his friends discover the "frozen words", ice that turns into words when in contact with human beings, to take different meanings depending on the people defrosting them. [...]On stage, there are thirteen of them; so good they would make a rock fall for Rabelais. Yes, theatre can be festive, Jean Bellorini proves it with great talent: a new, joyous star, in the sky of theatre.”

Brigitte Salino, Le monde, March 15th, 2012 "Frozen words? Rabelais thought of them as small bubbles of language frozen in ice and floating in the sky. What if theatre were the connection where they can melt, come to us and express their meaning? In Jean Bellorini’s beautiful staging, based on The Fourth Book, thirteen actors-dancers, looking to the stars but with their feet in water, take us to the core of Rabelais fancy and open up a space for profound reflexion on the place of man in the universe. The huge stage is like a sea on which a boat tries to sailin a storm. Panurge, Pantagruel, Friar Jean des Entommeures and the others are here, searching for the “Divine Bottle”. We rediscover a joyful and quirky Rabelais, through singing and dancing, he is uttered, slammed, chanted, and enjoyable beyond limits. A great pleasure!"

Sylviane Bernard-Gresh, TTT, Télérama Sortir, March 7th, 2012

"Come back, Rabelais, you will love what these young people have done with your work […] Paroles gelées represents Rabelais in every possible manner. He is played, sung, and danced to. Talent, resourcefulness and generosity. Set up in scenes, sung, danced, mimed, told, chanted, narrated, eructed in every possible way and language (Old French, Modern French and orthers) this journey to the heart of philosophy is carried out with great skill, maturity and impressive energy.”

Nicole Clodi, La dépêche du midi, January, 14th, 2012 "You have to love this modern Rabelais, singing and dancing. He combines today’s humour codes with the author’s verbal invention and is able, six centuries after its creation, to render the aura of his opus. Just enough respect, mixed with casualness due to a solid knowledge of the work as well as its author, this adaptation easily defrosts the words of so-called classical literature. It spares us the overdose but does not leave us frustrated either. Indeed, a big success for big men. A triumph, even. »

Bénédicte Soula, www.lestroiscoups.com, January, 23th, 2012 “A wedding dress, crystal chandeliers coming down from the flies give a touch of style or melancholy; the musical allusions are carefully polished. There is much pleasure in telling and doing: such a well run entertainment will definitely leave you smiling.”

René Solis, Libération, March 19th, 2012 "The company Air de Lune is having a great time carrying out the adaptation of a chapter from the Fourth Book by Rabelais. A dream of pictures, songs, dances, and comedy, in a space that reminds us of the fish hold of a boat after a storm.”

Claire Baudéan, France info, January 18th, 2012 "Jean Bellorini and his team are wandering through the Fourth Book and putting new life into Rabelais’ words thanks to their talent and their great enthusiasm. This is a fantastic show! Amazingly skilled seasoned actors and beginners combine brilliant monologues and collective scenes, all outstandingly choreographed, with perfectly mastered rhythm and composition. From the stage background, musicians accompany the flood of words coming from these athletes of acting. The combination is a tribute both to theatre craft (here, anything can be made into art, quietly) and to Rabelais’ creative genius, yet with a grain of mischief. The outrageous ease with which the artists seize the text and the theatrical material that account for this show is mesmerizing. It is hard to dream of a better way to discover or be reunited with the great Alcofribas Nasier, ‘most excellent laugher’!”

Catherine Robert, La Terrasse, March 2012 "Lead by Jean Bellorini, a remarkable young stage director, the company Air de Lune has been gaining notoriety for a few years now. He is currently an associated artist at the Théâtre national de Toulouse. This is where this cheerful show was first produced, as witty and apparently straightforward as amazingly brilliant. This simplicity is the result of fine, subtle and efficient work.”

Armelle Héliot, Le quotidien du médecin, March 14th, 2012 France Inter, Laure Adler, March 2012

France culture, Joëlle Gayot, March 2012

CONTACT

Jean-Baptiste Pasquier production and projects manager Théâtre Gérard Philipe-CDN de Saint-Denis

jb.pasquier@theatregerardphilipe.com Tél. +33(0)1 48 13 70 00 - +33 (0)6 79 04 57 04

Photos credits: Polo Garat-Odessa, Anne Nordmann, Pierre Dolzani