Little Red Riding Hood Photo Christophe Raynaud de Lage
Of the three shows for young audiences proposed this summer at the Avignon Festival, two were inspired by the tales of the Brothers Grimm: Little Red Riding Hood et Gretel, Hansel and the others. Let the Das Plateau collective sign the first; or Igor Mendjisky who created the second, these shows each time constituted their director’s first foray into young audiences. I’m currently on tour.
While these adaptations each offer a new reading of these tales, they both depart from the violent and peremptory ends of Charles Perrault, and extend even further the positive versions proposed by the Grimms. Igor Mendjisky has therefore almost completely rewritten history. Gretel and Hansel are not abandoned by their parents, nor do they fall into the hands of a terrible witch: indeed, the children decide to flee temporarily to escape a very boring and bland world where meals no longer exist. eating pills and where their parents don’t have time for them. Mendjisky describes (during the Press conference of the festival) this rewrite work as ” a continuous back and forth so that the piece speaks to both children and parents“, Adding” However, I tried to follow Joël Pommerat’s point of view that we should talk to children as well as adults “.
History at the center
A singular choice, these two staging immerse the viewer in the story through its narration. Thus, with Igor Mendjisky the public receives the story through the children to whom the parents and a friend of theirs tell the story to make them fall asleep. At Das Plateau, the story of Little Red Riding Hood is addressed directly to the public, like a dive into her memories by Little Red Riding Hood herself. The actress Maely Remembereau whoever plays this character also embodies the mother and grandmother of the companion. A way of working for the director Celestial Germ (as explained in Press conference) questions of ” memory of generations ” as well as “ the transmission “.
The power of images
Hansel and Gretel Photo Christophe Raynaud de Lage
Both Igor Mendjisky and the Das Plateau collective give a place of honor to the scenography. To pour Little Red Riding HoodDas Plateau collaborates for the third time with the set designer James Brandily ” in a project that allows you to work on illusion, magic, which allows appearances and disappearances according to the light, thanks to a one-way mirror “. The result is a tray with a magnificent aesthetic, which evokes a moving image where the house of the companion, that of the grandmother and the woods follow one another. Igor Mendjisky, for his part, installs his piece in a hyper-realistic bedroom for children, with the aim of ” draws sensations, because as a child it is above all what distinguishes you To do this, the director uses various narrative mediums including video, Chinese shadows or 2D animation, working with these different scales transports the viewer according to his imagination, with twenty-five characters with very distinct voices and personalities.
Two contemporary problems
Finally, the two adaptations claim to work on feminist issues. Igor Mendjisky makes the decision to rename the fairy tale to change its point of view and have the viewer follow a determined, mature Gretel, ready to do anything for her little brother, and to whom we will deliver, as a moral, the poetic injunction to ” take care of the stories that roam inside you “. To justify his choices, the director quotes his twin sister who gave him the impression of” grow with a half species a [ses] ribs “As well as the eight-year-old daughter to whom he humorously attributes” the role of literary consultant “.
If Das Plateau achieves its goal of ” amplify the strengths of childhood For its formal proposal, feminism seems, however, more present in the note of intent than in the piece itself. Certainly there is the doubling of the end in which the grandmother takes revenge on her, dragging a wolf into a trap to protect her granddaughter, a gesture that testifies to intergenerational female solidarity. Of course, the chaperone is no longer Perrault’s brainless son to whom Das Plateau raised a ” reversal of guilt between child and wolf On the other hand, the moral of the story seems to remain that of the original tale: if this misadventure happened to Little Red Riding Hood, it is because she deviated from the path from which she was forbidden to leave. There is therefore still a long way to go. to do so that this “reversal of guilt” is completely erased and this story asserts itself fully as emancipatory …
Hanna Bernard – www.sceneweb.fr
Little Red Riding Hood
Texts Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, translated by Natacha Rimasson-Fertin and excerpts from Future, ancient, fugitive by Olivier Cadiot
Directed by Celeste Germ
With Antoine Oppenheim, Maëlys Remembereau
Artistic collaboration Maëlys Remembereau
Dramaturgical Tips Marion Stoufflet
Music Jacob Stampbach
Production designer James Brandily
Light Sebastian Lefevre
Images Flavie Trichet-Lespañol
Sound and video Jérôme Tuncer
Sabine Schlemmer Costumes
Assistant director Mathilde WindDas Plateau production
Coproduction Jean-Vilar Theater in Vitry-sur-Seine, Le Grand R National Stage in La Roche-sur-Yon, Avignon Festival, New Generation Theater National Theater Center (Lyon), Nanterre-Amandiers National Theater Center, La Comédie de Centro National theater Colmar Grand Est Alsace, Comédie de Reims National Theater Center, Brétigny Theater, partner stage for arts and humanities of national interest, Gérard Philippe Theater Saint-Denis National Theater Center, La Villette – Paris artists’ initiatives, CREA – Momix Festival – Stage in convention of national interest “Art Enfance Jeunesse” (Kingersheim), National Theater of Brittany (Rennes), stage in Le Grand Bleu in convention of national interest for art, childhood and youth (Lille)
With the support of the Drac Île-de-France – Ministry of Culture, of the Île-de-France Region, of the Department of Essonne
Residences Ferme du Buisson (Noisiel) National Stage, Jean-Vilar Theater in Vitry-sur-Seine, Le Grand R National Stage in La Roche-sur-YonDas Plateau is approved by the DRAC Île-de-France and supported by the Île-de-France Region as an aid for artistic and cultural permanence and by the Essonne department as an aid for territorial residency.
Das Plateau is a member of the 360 collective of companies.Duration: 40 min
Avignon Festival 2022
Chapel of the White Penitents
from 15 to 18 July, at 11am or 3pmChatillon Theater
from 28 to 30 SeptemberNew Generation Theater (TNG), Lyon
from 4th to 15th OctoberLa Villette, Paris
from 24 to 26 NovemberLes Halles Theater, Sierre
from 30 November to 2 DecemberTheater of La Roche-sur-Yon
from 7 to 9 DecemberNational Theater of Brittany, Rennes
from 13 to 17 DecemberThe Big Blue, Lille
from 11 to 14 January 2023The Phoenix National Stage, Valenciennes
from 17 to 19 JanuaryThe Quay – Angers CDN
from 23 to 25 JanuaryMomix Festival, Kingersheim
January 29Gerard Philipe Theater, Saint-Denis
from 1 to 4 FebruarySartrouville / Yvelines Theater – CDN
February 11thBretigny Theater
from 7 to 9 MarchNanterre Amandiers Theater
from 23 to 25 MarchComedy by Colmar
From March 30 to April 1Jean Vilar Theater of Vitry-sur-Seine
from 17 to 22 AprilMC2: Grenoble
11-13 MayThe Bush Farm, Noisiel
from 1 to 3 JuneThe comedy of Reims
from 8 to 10 June
Gretel, Hansel and the others
Written and directed by Igor Mendjisky
With Igor Mendjisky, Esther Van Den Driesshe, Sylvain Debry
Deputy Director Thomas Christin
Dramaturgy Charlotte Farcet
2D Cleo Sarrazin animation
Raphaël Charpentier music
Set design Anne-Sophie Grac and Igor Mendjisky
Yannick Donet video
Stephane Dechamps lights
Jean-Luc Malavasi construction setMoya Krysa production
Partner Avignon Festival, La Colline – national theater, Célestins – Lyon theater, L’Azimut – Antony / Châtenay-Malabry, National Circus Pole in Ile-de-France, Le Grand T – Loire-Atlantique theater, Les Gémeaux – National Sceaux Stage, National Theater of Nice – CDN Nice Côte d’Azur, Romain Rolland Theater of Villejuif – Stage in agreement of national interest Art and creation
With the support of the Integration Fund for Young Actors of ESAD – PSPBB, of the SORANO space
With the artistic participation of the National Youth Theater
Project supported by the Ministry of Culture – Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Île-de-FranceDuration: 1h15
Avignon Festival 2022
Chapel of the White Penitents
from 8 to 11 July at 11:00 and 15:00Azimut, Antony and Châtenay-Malabry
from 8 to 12 OctoberRoman Theater Rolland, Villejuif
from 18 to 23 OctoberThe Hill – national theater, Paris
from 1 to 17 DecemberThe Celestins – Lyon Theater
from 20 to 31 DecemberLe Grand T, Nantes
from 28 February to 3 MarchNice National Theater, CDN Nice Côte d’Azur
from 15 to 18 MarchOlivier Theater – Stage and cinema, Istres
21 and 22 MarchEspace Marcel Carné, Saint-Michel-sur-Orge
March 24I Gemelli, Sceaux National Stage
7 and 8 AprilThe Quay – CDN Angers
from 12 to 15 AprilEspace Sorano, Vincennes
April 21
