LACRIMA
©Jean-Louis Fernandez
Program Information
| Genre | Theatre |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 May at 16:00, 5 May at 13:00, 6 May at 12:30 |
| Venue | at Shizuoka Arts Theatre |
| Duration | 175minutes without intermission |
| Language | In French Tamil, English, French sign language with Japanese and English surtitles |
| Seat | Reserved seating |
| Text and direction | Caroline Guiela Nguyen |
| Production | National theatre of Strasbourg |
Introduction
Through its large cast this play weaves a compelling drama exposing the shadow world of the skilled workers on whom the glitzy haute couture industry depends. Written by Caroline Guiela Nguyen, who became the artistic director of The National Theatre Strasbourg in 2023, it is centred around a wedding dress being made for a queen of England. Through its mixture of individual memory, the history of workers’ groups in the industry, and its depiction of the realities faced by nameless artisans always exposed to quiet violence, this is a “must-see” stage.
Director’s profile
Caroline Guiela Nguyen
Caroline Guiela Nguyen is an author, director and producer. Initially a sociology student, she joined the École duThéâtre National de Strasbourg and upon its release in 2009 founded the company Les Hommes Approximatifs. Keen to put on stage faces and bodies that are usually absent, to imagine with them great fictional stories, the company Les Hommes Approximatifs spent a long time looking for its actors, both professional and amateur. Convinced of the power of fiction while being attentive to telling the world as it presents itself, Caroline Guiela Nguyen always writes in advance, immersed in places that capture the issues of our time, in contact with those she calls “experts of our realities”.
In 2017, she created Saigon at the Ambivalence(s) festival at the Comédie de Valence and at the 71st Festival d’Avignon. Presented at the Ateliers Berthier in 2018 and 2019, and still touring today, the show has been performed in some fifteen countries. Fraternité, a fantastic tale, also created at the Festival d’Avignon, was presented at Les Ateliers Berthier in 2021, and is touring France and Europe. In 2022, she wrote and directed Kindheitsarchive, a drama about adoption, at the Schaubühne in Berlin, with the actors of the permanent ensemble.
Cast / Staff
Writter and director: Caroline Guiela Nguyen
Artistic collaboration: Paola Secret
Set Design: Alice Duchange
Costumes and haute couture pieces: Benjamin Moreau
Light design: Mathilde Chamoux and Jérémie Papin
Sound design: Antoine Richard, assisted by Thibault Farineau
Music: Jean-Baptiste Cognet, Teddy Gauliat-Pitois, Antoine Richard
Video: Jérémie Scheidler
Motion Design: Marina Masquelier
Hair and make-up artist: Emilie Vuez
Casting: Lola Diane
With (actors): Dan Artus, Dinah Bellity, Natasha Cashman, Charles Vinoth Irudhayaraj, Anaele Jan Kerguistel, Maud Le Grevellec, Michele Goddet, Nérimène Bensalah, Rajarajeswarie Parisot, Vasanth Selvam, and on film Nadia Bourgeois, Charles Schera, Fleur Sulmont and with the voices of Louise Marcia Blévins, Béatrice Dedieu, David Geselson, Kathy Packianathan, Jessica Savage-Hanford
Technical management: Stéphane Descombes, Xavier Lazarini
Dramaturgy: Louison Ryser, Tristan Schinz (from the dramaturgy class of Groupe 48 of the school of the Théâtre National du Strasbourg), Hugo Soubise
Direction assistant: Iris Baldoureaux-Fredon
Sound intern: Ella Bellone
Artistic counseling: Juliette Alexandre, Noémie de Lapparent
The decor, costumes and embroidery are made by the TNS workshops.
The text is published by Actes Sud (June 24).
Production: National Theatre of Strasbourg
Co-production: Festival TransAmériques (Canada), La Comédie – National Drama Centre of Reims, Points communs – New National Stage of Cergy-Pontoise, Theatres of the City of Luxembourg, National Drama Centre of Madrid (Spain), Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa (Italy), Wiener Festwochen | Free Republic of Vienna – Vienna (Austria), Liège Theatre (Belgium), National Theatre of Brittany – Rennes, Avignon Festival, Les Hommes Approximatifs
With the support of the Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe, Théâtre Ouvert – National Center for Contemporary Dramaturgies (CNDC), Maison Jacques Copeau, Museum of Fine Arts and Lace of Alençon and the National Workshop-Conservatory of Point d’Alençon, the French Institute of New Delhi and the Alliance française of Mumbai
Supported by Institut français
Under the auspices of Embassy of France in Japan / Institut français du Japon
Talk
◎Pre-performance talk: Starting 25 minutes before each performance.
Notice
Recommended age: High school students and up. Some scenes may contain intense depictions.
*For directing reasons, it may be difficult to take you to your seat after the play has started. So, please allow plenty of time to avoid this situation.
Enjoy your festival day!
