A mysteriously eerie atmosphere awaits the audience. Seven figures sit or lie motionless in a semi-dark room. The moment the stage lights are turned on, loud music sounds from a radio, a woman appears and carries the figures away. Humans and dolls merge once again in this piece by Austro-French choreographer, director and puppeteer Gisèle Vienne: an adaptation of Der Teich, a flash play by Swiss author Robert Walser about a young man who can no longer endure his agonising family life. He fakes his suicide to see if anyone will mourn him. In Vienne’s version, the protagonist becomes a woman who is destroyed by her mother’s coldness and her sister’s wickedness. This is no ordinary drama but a poetic choreographic image act of the darkest depths of the human soul, most impressively portrayed by the award-winning actor Adèle Haenel and the no less fascinating dancer Julie Shanahan.
Based on the original work: Der Teich (L'Étang) by Robert Walser for Kerstin
Concept, direction, stage design, dramaturgy: Gisèle Vienne
Adaptation of the text: Adèle Haenel, Julie Shanahan, Henrietta Wallberg
In collaboration with: Gisèle Vienne
Cast: Adèle Haenel and Julie Shanahan
Light: Yves Godin
Sound design: Adrien Michel
Musical direction: Stephen F. O’Malley
Original music: Stephen F. O’Malley and François J. Bonnet
Tour Assistance: Sophie Demeyer
Outside Eye: Dennis Cooper and Anja Röttgerkamp
Stage design assistance: Maroussia Vaes Design of the puppets Gisèle Vienne
Design of the puppets: Raphaël Rubbens, Dorothéa Vienne-Pollak and Gisèle Vienne
In collaboration with: Théâtre National de Bretagne
Production of the set design: Nanterre-Amandiers CDN
Set design and props: Gisèle Vienne, Camille Queval and Guillaume Dumont
Costumes: Gisèle Vienne and Camille Queval
Make-up and wigs: Mélanie Gerbeaux
General direction: Erik Houllier
Sound direction: Adrien Michel and Mareike Trillhaas
Lighting direction: Iannis Japiot and Samuel Dosière
Stage direction: Antoine Hordé and Jack McWeeny
Production and distribution: Alma Office, Anne-Lise Gobin, Alix Sarrade, Camille Queval & Andrea Kerr Administration Cloé Haas and Giovanna Rua
The play was created in collaboration with: Kerstin Daley-Baradel and Ruth Vega Fernandez
Acknowledgements to: Etienne Bideau-Rey, Nelson Canart, Zac Farley, Jean-Paul Vienne, César Van Looy, Pauline Jakobiak, Tristan Lahoz, Erik Houllier, Richard Pierre and Etienne Hunsinger.
