Cupidon est malade (Cupidon isn`t well)

Cupidon est malade (Cupidon isn’t well)
A reverie based on A Midsummer Night's Dream
Text Pauline Sales
Stage direction Jean Bellorini
© Serge BLOCH
Premiere October 2014 / On tour 2014-2016
Contact production
Jean-Baptiste Pasquier / [email protected]
Tél. +33(0)1 48 13 70 00 - +33(0)6 79 04 57 04
Rebecca Pauly / [email protected]
Tél. +33(0)1 48 13 70 08 - +33(0)6 80 24 99 35
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 of theatrical creation, co-production and distribution. It is managed by the stage director Jean Bellorini since
January 2014, accompagnied by his group of artists. His interests pertain to creation, transmission and education.
He aims to be poetic, joyful, and deeply established in his territory. The TGP (Théâtre Gérard Philipe) aims to exist as a
place for thought and reflection, invention, where past and future can be questionned. It is a space for the expression of
our uncertainties, of our difficulties to speak out and to listen, and it must remain open, a home for each and everyone.
An Am Stram Gram creation
Cupidon est malade is freely inspired from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Here, under the children's lucid eyes, the love romps are in full swing, replete with fantasy, drama, madness,
absurdity, fun.
It is for the Am Stram Gram Theatre a huge pleasure to see the on-stage collaboration of playwright Pauline
Sales (co-director of Le Préau, Centre dramatique régional of Vire, Basse-Normandie) and stage director
Jean Bellorini (director of the Théâtre Gérard Philippe-CDN of Saint-Denis, Île-de-France), who received in
2014 the Molière Award for best stage director.
Cupidon est malade, a play for all audiences from age 8 and up, is also the result of the association of three
theatres, the first one located in Switzerland and the other two in France, in the aim of putting childhood and
youth at the heart of the theatrical assembly. An international project, an international cast: 8 performers
on stage – 6 actors, 2 musicians – of which Swiss actors Mathieu Delmonté (Bottom); Pierre-Isaïe Duc
(Lysander) and Nathalie Cuenet (Helena). Aurélie Edeline and Olivia Châtain, full-time actors at the
Préau of Vire, play Hermia and Tine respectively, and Julien Oliveri plays Robin. Musicians Michalis
Boliakis and Hugo Sablic are familiar with Jean Bellorini's stage directing work.
Musical theatre / All audiences from age 8 and up
Text Pauline Sales
Stage direction Jean Bellorini
With Olivia Châtain, Nathalie Cuenet, Mathieu Delmonté, Pierre-Isaïe Duc, Aurélie
Edeline, Julien Gaspar
And musicians Michalis Boliakis, Hugo Sablic
Steg design and Lights Jean Bellorini / Assisted by Rémi Furrer and Xavier Thien /
Costumes Laurianne Scimemi / Stage direction assistant Karyll Elgrichi
Coproduction Théâtre Am Stram Gram, Genève, Théâtre Gérard Philippe, Centre dramatique national
de Saint-Denis et Le Préau, Centre dramatique régional de Basse-Normandie - Vire. Avec le soutien
du Service culturel Migros Genève et des Maisons Mainou de Vandoeuvres, Résidence Suisse
d’Ecriture Dramatique et de Musique pour la Scène. (Swiss Residency for Playwriting and Stage Music).
The text was commissioned by the Théâtre Am Stram Gram. The show integrates the Parcours Enfance et
Jeunesse (Childhood and Youth Scheme) of the city's theatre for all of its performances at the TGP of SaintDenis. The text has been published by Les Solitaires Intempestifs in November 2014.
Cupidon isn’t well
A wedding day. A day of celebration. A "they got married, had many children and lived happily ever
after" kind of day.
Here however, like often these days, the bride and groom have already got children and have already been
through the ritual of marriage, more than once.
For Hermia and Lysander, this union symbolises the desire to gather and to celebrate their stepfamily. But
ten-year-old Tine and Robin, whom they both had from a first marriage and who live with them every other
week, will have none of it.
The parents' ability to love several times afflicts them, because it is the proof that true love doesn't exist. It
is but a mechanism of attraction and repulsion. And they will demonstrate it to the face of the world and
more importantly to their parents. Why get married when you're incapable of loving? Tine met with Cupid on
a RER subway platform in Paris while on her way to the orthodentist.
She came back home with an empty jam jar in which Cupid coughed a few times and whoever breathes inside
this jar will fall in love with the first person they meet. And it works, but like everything else in life, never as
expected: Bottom, Tine's father, still very much in love with Hermia, will fall for the charms of Helena, Robin's
mother and Lysander's ex-wife. Lysander is going to experience a newly found fervour for his old love, much
to Robin's delight, who will see his parents love each other again, for Helena had never forgotten Lysander.
Hermia witnesses these upheavals, skeptical, as the lonely and ill-loved wife, whose pain pierces right
through her daughter's heart, and then again with the help of the jar, discovers lesbian pleasures and
declares her love to Helena.
Are you following me?
It is an enchanted night whose spell will end with the break of dawn.
Broken jar, shattered glass, the crazed pursuit is over. Back to square one.
Back to the uneasy and fragile love, back to the good and bad reasons that make us leave or love the other,
back to this measure of freedom that makes romantic choice something other than just a blind frenzy. Let's
hope so.
EXCERPT
Tine and Robin
They are the newlyweds' children
Tine
I don't know how many times your parents have married.
It's my mum's third wedding.
Robin
It's my dad's third
Tine
They're getting married today
My mum and your dad
Robin
My dad and your mum
Tine
My dad doesn't know that usually at this time on Saturday, he watches TV. He's
tired because you know, pumpkin, the rest of the week I have to go to work
Robin
And my mum, my mum, she's there, she's got her white dress on. She's not the
bride, but she's a nurse so white is her colour
Tine
It's party time
Robin
Party time!
Tine
We're happy
Robin
Happy, happy
Tine
And we get along well
Robin
Well, well
The script for the play will be published by Les Solitaires Intempestifs in Nov,. 2014.
Author’s statement of intention
Reverie for all ages
based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Children are everywhere and yet for the most part we hardly notice them, even when we have children
ourselves, we don't notice them. We fail to notice that there's a part of the world inhabited by children and
the influence it has, which isn't measured. We fail to notice them because we almost always have to think
about something else while thinking about them continuously when they're ours. Where to find the time, in
our accelerated daily lives, to think like they do? They practically never forget about us. How would they
have a choice? We accompany them, direct them, feed them, educate them, well or badly, well and badly. To
look at children playing is to learn about us, the conversations we had, the films we saw, the length of our
phone calls, the time spent in front of our screens, how we shout and how we kiss. Children gather our traces
like little white stones. They mimic us and get ready for tomorrow, when they will be grown-ups, free to do
what they want, perhaps the exact opposite of what they see us do.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, parallel worlds mingle and intermingle on the main topic of love. The
supernatural world, represented by Titania and Oberon, observes and traps humans with a magical flower
that makes you fall in love like you would fall off a ladder. When Fabrice Melquiot suggested a reverie aimed
at all ages and inspired from this work by Shakespeare, I thought it would be a great opportunity for all
children, who instinctively inhabit the supernatural world (a world from which we have been expelled,
without even realising it), to spy on the so-called real world of the adults on the topic of that highly important
and mysterious question, and which closely concerns them, of falling in and out of love, the children in this
dream becoming – in this new version – modern parents.
Children will thus investigate how adults fall in and out of love, and then in again, and then out. With a great
questioning of what makes us fall in love and then out of it. They will test the adults by setting a trap of
repeated love. From the moment that you fall in love once, how many times can you fall in love again? And
why stop? What does it mean to fall in love? And what do we fall in love with? And for how long? And what
makes us love? Is it an absurd game? An endless merry-go-round? The children will wager – without
forgetting to keep their fingers crossed as tightly as they can – that love doesn't exist and it's the adults who
will prove it to them. Unless...
Pauline Sales
© Elizabeth CARECCHIO
The stage director’s point of view
It's the wedding day. There's electricity in the air. Between joy and anxiety. For the children, the countdown
has begun. The course of things needs to be changed.
Such is their secret wager.
We must dream a frantic show where human beings are overwhelmed by the bringing into play of situations.
The audience shouldn't know anymore whether it is the characters or the actors themselves who are being
taken into this madness.
In the theatre we say that we "play". The actors are grown-up kids who cultivate astonishment. The madness
of play inebriates...
The space will also be a play space. A show on a lawn with a football match background. A tiny jam jar
containing the "spell" will be hidden in a ball. Each kicks the ball as if striking into the destiny of our lives.
The music will have the hellish pace of our heartbeats, the moment when we'd do anything to go back in
time. Halfway between disco and techno sounds – but always pop – the wedding marches will make their
appearance....
A harpsichord, keyboards, organs, electronic drums and a big kettledrum.
Purcell and his Fairy Queen, Shakespeare and his Dream will haunt the show like ghosts.
Passion is at the heart of life, at the centre of the game of life, of the games in life. If theatre should tend to
be life-like, life itself is always like a theatre...
If love’s a sweet passion why does it torment?
If a bitter, oh tell me, whence comes my content?
Since I suffer with pleasure, why should I complain,
or grieve at my fate, when I know it’s in vain?
Yet so pleasing the pain is so soft as the dart,
That at once it both wounds me and tickles my heart.
(Excerpt from Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell (1692), semi-opera,
the libretto of which is an anonymous adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.)
Jean Bellorini
© Elizabeth CARECCHIO
Biographies
PAULINE SALES author
Born in 1969, Pauline Sales is an actress and an author. Her plays are published by Les Solitaires
Intempestifs. They were staged by Richard Brunel, Marie-Pierre Bésanger, Philippe Delaigue, Laurent
Laffargue, Jean-Claude Berutti. From october 2002 to may 2007, she has been an associated author to La
Comédie de Valence (Dramatic National Center of Drôme-Ardèche). Several of her plays are translated in
english and german and have ben performed abroad. She worked with Silvia Berutti-Ronelt and Philippe Le
Moine translating german and english contemporary stock plays. She was speaker in writting department of
Ensatt managed by Enzo Cormann. She is a member of the writting cooperative, an author collectif gathering
Fabrice Melquiot, Marion Aubert, Enzo Cormann, Rémi Devos, Samuel Gallet, David Lescot...
Since January 2009, she co-manages with Vincent Garanger, Le Préau, Centre Dramatique Régional of
Basse-Normandie - Vire. Among creations of Centre Dramatique, she wrote À l’ombre staged by Philippe
Delaigue, she adapted – with Richard Brunel who worked for the stage direction – and plays in J’ai la femme
dans le sang, based on Les farces conjugales by Georges Feydeau. She translated with Philippe Le Moine
Occupe-toi du bébé by Dennis Kelly staged by Olivier Werner and created at La Colline in January 2011. She
wrote De la salive comme oxygène staged by Kheireddine Lardjam, at Théâtre de Sartrouville and of Yvelines,
CDN production as part of the Odyssées en Yvelines festival (2011), she also wrote En travaux that she
stages (2011).
NATHALIE CUENET actress (HÉLÈNE)
Nathalie Cuenet graduated at École Supérieure d’Art Dramatique (ESAD) in Geneva in 1992. She performed
in A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare in Théâtre de l’Orangerie, staged by Frédéric Polier, Kroum
l’Éctoplasme of Hanok Levin at Festival de la Bâtie and Dostoïevski in Cuba besed on Les Démons à la Grange
by Dorigny in Lausanne and in Théâtre de la Grenade in Geneva. She has also been seen in Camille Giacobino
plays such as Quand la vie bégaie by Valérie Poirier in Théâtre du Galpon and in La mauvaise habitude de
mourir at the Théâtre de la Grenade in Geneva. She often works at Marionnettes of Geneva as puppeteeractress. After having worked several times as a stage direction assistant, then after ten years working with
l’Atelier of La Comédie of Geneva, thus teaching actor trainning, she eventually stages Chroniques by X.
Durringer with the 400k company (La Traverse, Geneva) in 2008 and Un avenir heureux by Manon Pulver
at Grütli (Geneva) in January 2014.
MATHIEU DELMONTÉ actor (BOTTOM)
He studied at the Academy of Lausanne (SPAD) en 1988. Since then, Mathieu Delmonté worked in France,
Belgium and in Switzerland. In Paris, he performed in Théâtre de La Colline, Théâtre de Chaillot, Théâtre de
L’Athénée, Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre and in Théâtre des Quartier d’Ivry. In Belgium, he performed
in Théâtre Royale of Namur and in Théâtre National of Bruxelles. In Switzerland, he performed in Théâtre de
la Comédie, in Théâtre de Carouge, in Théâtre du Loup, at La Parfumerie and in Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne.
He worked with lots of stage directors : Hervé Loichemol, Philippe Mantha, Pierre Bauer, Bernard Meister,
Benno Besson (Un palabre, Mille francs de récompense, Le roi cerf, Le cercle de craie caucasien), JeanLouis Hourdin (Coups de foudre, Farces, Le monde d’Albert Cohen), Denis Maillefer, Martine Paschoud, Dan
Jemmett (Femmes gare aux femmes), Jean Liermier (Le médecin malgré lui ), Robert Bouvier (les Estivants
de M. Gorki), Dorian Rossel (Quartier Lointain, Soupçon, La Tempête), Frédéric Pollier, Marie- Christine
Epiney (Le Gardien), etc.
PIERRE-ISAÏE DUC actor (LYSANDRE)
Pierre-Isaïe Duc trained acting in Paris. He works with stage directors such as Patrice Kerbrat, Jacques
Hadjdaje, Jacques Connort, Jean- Pierre Loriol. In Switzerland, he works with Oskar Gomez Mata, Denis
Maillefer, Anne Bisang, Orélie Fuchs, Francy Schori, Jacques de Torrenté, Catherine Sümi, Denis Rabaglia,
Daniel Wolf... Recently he played in Seule la mer based on Amos OZ, staged by Denis Maillefer (created in
2014 at the Théâtre Benno Besson of Yverdon). At the same time his interest lies in the aera of stage
direction. He assists Georges Werler with three plays among which, one at the Studio-Théâtre of La
Comédie-Française, then creates in 1993 the théâtre du Moribond with whom he creates six plays among
which « La symphonie levrette requiem » based on Roland Dubillard, adapted at Théâtre Loup in 2003. In
1999, he established with Christophe Ryser and Isabelle Pellissier the Corsaire Sanglot Company based in
Geneva, with whom he created Le Pré (2011) and Le chant du bouquetin (2006) on tour in french-speaking
Switzerland.
OLIVIA CHÂTAIN actress (TINE)
Since september 2012, Olivia Chatain is a permanent actress and plays in Préau CDR de Basse-Normandie
– Vire productions : Les Arrangements Pauline Sales | Lukas Hemleb, Le monde en cage Magali Mougel |
Aurelie Edeline, Box Office Damien Gabriac | Thomas Jolly. She graduated at Ecole Nationale Supérieure des
Arts et Techniques du Théâtre (ENSATT) of Lyon (2008-09) and works with Philippe Delaigue, Evelyne Didi,
Vincent Garanger, Agnès Dewitte, Giampaolo Gotti, Enzo Cormann, Charlie Nelson, Simon Deletang,
Matthias Langhoff...
AURÉLIE EDELINE actress (HERMIA)
Aurélie Edeline is an associated artist, in charge of the relations with regional companies and plays in Préau
CDR de Basse-Normandie - Vire productions since January 2009 : Les Orphelines Marion Aubert | Johanny
Bert, J’ai la femme dans le sang based on Les farces conjugales Georges Feydeau | Richard Brunel, Occupetoi du bébé Dennis Kelly | Olivier Werner, Trahisons Harold Pinter | Vincent Garanger, Les Enfants atomiques
Samuel Gallet, Les Arrangements Pauline Sales | Lukas Hemleb, Le monde en cage Magali Mougel | Aurélie
Edeline, Box Office Damien Gabriac | Thomas Jolly. Since september 2012, she is a permanent actress of
Préau. She trained at Conservatoire National de Région of Rouen and at the Académie Théâtrale de l’Union
in Limoges. At the theater, she assisted Christophe Perton, Michel Raskine and Bertrand Bossard. She
performed under the direction of Anthony Poupard, Thomas Gornet, Scali Delpeyrat, Marie-Pierre Besanger,
Christophe Perton, Cecile Marmouget. She took part in Temps de Parole(s)’s festival in Valence for the play
of Terre sainte by Mohamed Kacimi and as an actress in L’Indicible staged and by Jean-Marie Piemme, in
Les Arrangements by Pauline Sales, staged by Christophe Perton. At the Cinema, she played in Tempus
Fugit by Yves Piat, in Selon Matthieu by Xavier Beauvois, in Le Fil des coups by Benoit Tetelin and in Hiro !
Fujihiro ! directed by Maia Thiriet.
JULIEN GASPAR actor (ROBIN)
Born in Cannes in 1985, Julien Gaspar was trained at Conservatoire national supérieur d’art dramatique of
Paris. As an actor, he works under direction of Didiez Bezace in Que la noce commence (Théâtre de la
Commune CDN of Aubervilliers, 2012) and for television (Arte channel in Ainsi soient-ils show in 2013). As a
stage director, he is an ssociated artist at théâtre Antibéa in Antibes since 2012, where he works on JeanLuc Lagarce’s work. He is now working on adaptating a Hermann Hungar short story, Kostia. He has also
directed two short movies: Loin de Benjamin (2011) and Passe in 2013. He wrote the script of Villeperdue,
currently in development.
© Elizabeth CARECCHIO
PERFORMANCES TIMETABLE
CREATION : The 3rd of November 2014, Théâtre Am Stram Gram, Genève (Suisse)
ON TOUR IN FRANCE : Season 2015-2016
The 3rd of November 2015, Le Préau – Centre dramatique régional de Basse-Normandie, Vire
The 5th and the 6th of Novembre 2015, Théâtre municipal de Coutances
The 12th and the 13rd of November 2015, Le Figuier Blanc, Argenteuil
The 26 and the 27th of November 2015, Le Cratère – Scène nationale d’Alès
From the 15th to the 17th of December 2015, Le Grand T, Nantes
From the 12th to the 16th of January 2016, Théâtre national de Bretagne, Rennes
The 21st and the 22nd of January 2016, Théâtre national de Nice
The 26th and the 27th of January 2016, Scènes du Jura – Scène nationale, Lons-le-Saunier
The 21st and the 22nd of Februay 2016, Théâtre du Passage, Neuchâtel (Switzerland)
The 10th and the 11th of March 2016, Théâtre de Lorient – CDDB
The 14th and the 15th of March 2016, Théâtre de Saint-Quentin en Picardie
The 25th and the 26th of March 2016, L’apostrophe - Scène nationale de Cergy-Pontoise
From the 17th to the 21st of May 2016, Théâtre national de Toulouse - Midi-Pyrénées
Season 2014-2015
From the 19th to the 21st of November 2014, Théâtre Benno Besson d’Yverdon (Switzerland)
From the 23rd to the 25th of November 2014, Théâtre l’Équilibre de Fribourg (Switzerland)
From the 28th to the 30th of November 2014, Théâtre de Vevey (Switzerland)
From the 2nd to the 5th of December 2014, Le Préau - Centre dramatique régional de Basse-Normandie, Vire
From the 10th to the 15th of December 2014, Théâtre Gérard Philipe - Centre dramatique national de Saint-Denis
HERMIA
Don’t make fun of me. A wedding day is a love splashes day. We jump into the
swimming pool and everybody receives water. Ne te moque pas de moi. Un
mariage est une journée d’éclaboussures amoureuses. On saute dans la piscine
et tout le monde reçoit de l’eau
LYSANDRE
Et tu pensais que les enfants sauteraient avec nous ?
And you were thinking children would jump with us ?
HERMIA
Ils doivent nous laisser une chance.
They have to let us a chance.
LYSANDRE
Donne-leur le temps.
Give them time.
HERMIA
Ils sont furieux.
They are furious.
LYSANDRE
Ravis.
Delighted
HERMIA
Ils ne se supportent pas.
They can’t bear each other
LYSANDRE
Ils s’adorent.
They adore each other
HERMIA
Robin a mis de l’eau de javel dans mon bain moussant.
Robin pored bleach into my foam(ing) bath
LYSANDRE
C’est drôle.
It’s fun.
HERMIA
Tu trouves ? La peau me brûle et sens l’odeur.
(Do) you think so ? My skin is burning and smell it.
LYSANDRE
Tu pourrais sentir bien pire.
You could smell way worse
Available on tour
SEPTEMBER 2015 / FEBUARY 2016
Technicalfact sheet and sale price on demand
CONTACTS
THÉÂTRE AM STRAM GRAM GENÈVE
Route de frontenex 56 / 1207 Gen ève / www.amstramgram.ch
Pierre-André Bauer / +41 (0) 22 735 79 24 / [email protected]
Fabrice Melquiot / +41(0) 22 735 79 24 / [email protected]
THÉÂTRE GÉRARD PHILIPE, CENTRE DRAMTIQUE NATIONAL DE SAINT-DENIS
Jean-Baptiste Pasquier / +33 (0) 1 48 13 70 19 90 /+33 (0)6 79 04 57 04 / [email protected]
LE PREAU, CENTRE DRAMATIQUE REGIONAL DE BASSE-NORMANDIE, VIRE
Magali Fasula / +33 (0) 2 31 66 16 04 / + 33 (0)6 20 96 85 43 / [email protected]
© Elizabeth CARECCHIO