On the occasion of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Violette Leduc (1907-1972), and of the Journées du Matrimoine, a theatrical adaptation of «Thérèse et Isabelle», one of the major novels long censored by the writer, in the framework of a work of creation in progress, with a direction signed Azani V. Ebengou.
Azani V. Ebengou, Héloïse Gaubert, Tara Veyrunes, and the Compagnie Les Pleureuses de feu, present a voice extracted from a work of creation in progress: exceptional restitution programmed on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Violette Leduc, and Matrimoine Days.
Synopsis. At the boarding school at the beginning of the last century, Thérèse, 17, and Isabelle, 18, are students. For three days and three nights, they find each other, find each other, make love and discover each other. From the novel to the theatre..." I discovered Thérèse and Isabelle by chance. It was a dazzling encounter. I discovered a new language, surreal and erotic, powerful, both metaphorical and concise, poetic and concrete. It is through words, their delicacy, their preciousness and their dreaming that Violette Leduc transmits to us what the two lovers live. Immediately, this universe echoes in me, I imagine it in the theatre. Censored for more than fifty years, the silence surrounding this work is symptomatic of the treatment of women’s lives and voices in our society: we must not hear them. Putting Thérèse and Isabelle on the stage is not insignificant. It is to reclaim the subjectivity of a woman, her own sensitivity, her vision of the world and sensuality. It is an emancipatory act, which I hope will resonate in the bodies and hearts of all who recognize themselves there, and beyond." Azani V. Ebengou.
Adaptation and direction: Azani V. Ebengou. Game: Héloïse Gaubert and Tara Veyrunes. Lighting manager: Nemo Gaulon. Les Pleureuses de feu. Born in the spring of 2022, the Pleureuses de feu is a theatre company, brought together by Azani Ebengou who is its artistic director. Actor, director and author.ice. They are gathered around a common project: to carry out loud and clear voices forgotten, killed, silenced or marginalized. Those of women, black people, lesbian or queer people… voices that concern them. The margin is where they talk, but not their subject. The Mourners do their job: cry. It’s very serious, yes. The Fire Mourners are an attempt to reconcile the revolutionary fire with the watery power of their human emotions. The company’s nerve centre is Saint-Étienne, and it also develops where its members live: Lyon, Marseille, Brussels. Contact: lespleureusesdefeu@gmail.com