"Echo, ou la parole est un miroir muet" ("Echo, Or Speech is a Silent Mirror") by Xavier Maurel travels to the Congo
Updated on 02/12/2019
The playwright’s work will be presented on 7 and 8 December in Kinshasa (DRC) at the International Festival of the Actor, then on 11 and 12 December at the “Mantsina sur scène” which will be held in Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), with the support of the Institut français and the Brittany Region.
Echo, ou la parole est un miroir muet is a piece by Xavier Maurel, produced and interpreted by Lena Paugam and choreographed by Thierry Thieu Niang. This particular show revisits the myth of Echo and Narcissus.
Based on the story of a modern couple, the concept of the celebrity couple in Ovid’s Metamorphoses is re-read and rewritten. Here is the story of a woman who has to learn to overcome the loss of a man she loved and saw die. Through the myth of Echo and Narcissus, Xavier Maurel offers a meditation on the voice which, especially in love, can overwhelm and condemn when it intends to save and rebuild. Echo’s voice is powerless to save Narcissus; it cannot be heard, touched or reached.
The show is designed to be performed in the forest in order to amplify the sensory experience. Arnaud De la Celle and the stage designer Ludovic Riochet invent a device in which spatialised music is proliferated in an immersive way as an echo with the voice of the comedian Lena Paugam. The sound system plays with the effects of the echoes, mirrors and diffractions that the poem proposes. Accompanied by a new troupe of non-professional dancers in each territory where it is presented, the piece mixes text, dance and immersive music.
Production
Compagnie Alexandre – created in 2019
Co-production: Lyncéus, Châteauvallon National Stage, Le Moulin du Roc – Niort National Stage, Le Fourneau – National Centre for Street and Public Space Arts (Brest), L’Aire Libre (St-Jacques de la Lande).
With the support of Au Bout du Plongeoir (Thorigné-Fouillard)
Schedule
- 7 and 8 December 2019 – The International Festival of the Actor – Kinshasa (Congo)
- 11 and 12 December 2019 – Mantsina sur scène – Brazzaville (Congo)
- 18 and 19 May 2020 - Moulin du Roc, Niort National Stage
- 27 and 28 May 2020 – L’Aire Libre (St-Jacques de la Lande)
The project is supported by the Institut français through the Théâtre Export initiative and the Institut français and Brittany Region partnership for the performances in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of the Congo. It is also supported by the Directorate of Regional and Cultural Affairs of Brittany, the Brittany Region, the Côtes d’Armor Regional Council and the town of St-Brieuc.