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Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Ces enfants-là

Virginie Jortay

Theatre

This is the story of an only daughter growing up in the 1960s, the roaring years of women’s emancipation and sexual liberation. Alongside her parents, she meets a host of more or less eccentric characters: Mamy Pilule, Papy with the burned face, Marraine, the little neighbour, Sœur Thérèse, Elvira Madigan, the dentist and the doctor, the girlfriend on the telephone, the best friend, the Other, the architect, the collaborator, Karajan and Richter, the jeweller’s son, the soulmate, the big neighbour, Woody (Allen), Bruno Cremer, Akerman (Chantal), the impotent and … Serge Reggiani.

This stage adaptation of Virginie Jortay’s novel consists of thirty brief tableaux, instant sequences that follow one another in quick succession – the same way you turn the pages of an absorbing book. In a score for two narrators and a doll, the two actresses – Janine Godinas and Anne Sylvain – embody the different voices and interpret this child across the different stages that link her to a mother who is probably ill. Between the two: absence, silences, all that has been left unsaid. Blunt writing that transports us between past and present as in a rally, until the final revelation, hinted at since the beginning. A taboo of inconceivable obviousness.

Ces enfants-là is a total show in which set, music and lighting design are very important. They are the joint creators of a living universe that is now oppressive, now funny: a shaggy carpet with a life of its own, miscellaneous objects containing memories from time immemorial, images projected on a screen …

Première
Création Studio Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Touring

Information

World Première 29 November 2023

Contacts: 
Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
International Touring : Céline Gaubert - Head of touring and international relations
Touring in Belgium : Matthieu Defour - Production and tour manager
Production : Juliette Thieme - Head of production

Available for booking:  24/25

Cast

uthor, director and coadaptor
Virginie Jortay

Performer and coadaptor
Anne Sylvain

Performer
Janine Godinas

Scenography and costumes
Valérie Jung

Lights
Stéphanie Daniel

Video
Lise Bruyneel

Sound design
Paola Pisciottano

Artistic consultant
Myriam Saduis

Production
Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Groupe Kuru

Coproduction
Théâtre de Liege, Central-Centre Culturel de La Louvière, La Coop asbl, Shelter Prod

With the help of
Maison poème

With the support of
La Fédération Wallonie- Bruxelles, Service Général de la Création Artistique – Direction du Théâtre, Maison poème

Thanks
with the voice of Benoit Van Dorslaer

Le Rideau de saison, Maak & Transmettre · photo : Lucile Dizier, 2024