It is a theater festival beyond the nails, beyond the walls. Vis-à-Vis reaches out to the inmates, offering them an intellectual escape, food for the mind, a boost towards the path of reintegration. The Paris-Villette theater (TPV) program in four evenings, five shows, two screenings and two exhibitions created in prison.
The festival opens this Wednesday with the magnificent documentary “Cinq femmes”, by Sandrine Lanno. The desires of five prisoners sentenced to sentences of more than ten years, at the Sud Francilien prison center, in Réau (Seine-et-Marne). "I want my child to tell me, when I go out, mom, you are not damaged by confinement." Here we are disarmed, we are nothing and they want to take away our dignity from being a woman, from being a mother, ”says one of these women. Another projection on Saturday was that of Marius staged by Joël Pommerat at the central house in Arles in 2017.
A live poem with several voices
The other shows will be live, on stage. A sonorous poem with several voices with prisoners from Health, directed by Alexandre Zeff and Julie Brochen, a choreographic creation by the company Point Virgule.
François Chaffin, from the Le Menteur theater, has been working for 10 years in Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne). Pleased to "offer a different vision of the detainees from vox populi", he directed ten prisoners over 12 sessions. “We start from a blank page and we create in the conditions of the prison environment, in a cell, with the noises of the guards. The inmates are proud and take up the game, ”says the director.
His show "My mouth for work", played Friday evening, presents candidates for a dream job. The "actors" have imagined their job profile. We discover the devil's advocate, the celestial athlete, the superhero coach. In suit and tie they say their desires in "their scruffy literary." There is joy, shouting, they direct themselves, advise each other… ”says François Chaffin.
The Paris-Villette theater does not choose the scheduled plays. "We welcome proposals from the cultural coordinators of penal establishments," explains Valérie Dassonville, co-director of the theater. In this festival, the artists give themselves fully and adapt to the fragility of the distribution. They anticipate possible refusals of exit permissions by compensating by radio and video forms. This crossroads leads to creations in their own right. We are delighted to share works, artists, places. "
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This 3rd edition of Vis-à-Vis has been extended with an evening and the public will be able to enjoy a photo exhibition and another of engravings, designed in detention. This work with the Ministry of Justice had enabled Paris-Villette to include "The Iliad" in its seasonal programming. An extraordinary ten-hour theatrical production in which six inmates had performed and which sold out.
"When I play, I forget about detention"
Ilyès, nicknamed by his fellow prisoners the "Zidane of comedy", will not be allowed to go out to play "Frictions 2" at the Paris Villette theater this Thursday evening. The guards of the prison center of Chauconin (Seine-et-Marne) found a telephone in his cell, the judge refused his permission to ventilate. He is disgusted, but keeps smiling at rehearsals.
Fifteen full days, under the direction of Anthony Quenet, of This company, to speak of everything, from the sociologist Bourdieu to the cinema hero Rocky, in performative paintings, mixing dance and theater. "They look like Bourdieu and Rocky, they are both lonely," says Ilyès. And both very combative, one with his pen, the other with his fists ...
"There is no point in this sociologist not adopting this Spinozist precept ..." The texts are sometimes difficult. The company arrived with a level of requirement which encourages to apply, to progress. On the wall of the rehearsal room parade the images of the boxer interpreted by Sylvester Stallone.
The prisoners imitate sports training: rope jumps, punches, hopping ... At the microphone, Dylan delivers extracts from sociology texts. "Play with the microphone, take breaks, look at the audience", encourages Anthony Quenet, who wanted to "telescope thought and a popular work. Have we worked on the sociological question that Rocky tells us about? by mixing texts from the film and Bourdieu, ”explains Anthony Quenet.
"You know in prison, we no longer exist"
Looking at them, we forget the bars, the guards. The actors laugh, joke, follow the directions of play. "The theater helps us to express ourselves in public and Anthony teaches us reading techniques, raising our voices, taking our time", appreciates Ilyès.
Marouanne, he rushed to the workshop as we go back to the surface of the water after too long apnea. Oxygen, survival. “The theater helps me to keep my spirits up. When I play, I forget about the detention and my depression. After my rehearsal day in the cell, I think of positive things, I stop brooding. You know in prison, we no longer exist. The theater makes it possible to create links, to share, it's magic! I would like to take lessons out of here. "
Dylan, black hat on his braids, reopened books thanks to the theater. "I'm rediscovering words. This workshop channels me and breaks boredom, ”says the 21-year-old boy, imprisoned for 2 years. Thursday, he will go to the theater for the first time in his life. To applaud other inmates, overcome stage fright and ... try to eat a BigMac.
"Through this festival, the prisoners endanger themselves differently, in front of an audience," observes Irene Muscari, the cultural coordinator. They take risks in a rigid and imposed framework, they learn to listen to the other, to trust him, and to respect the word of the master. "
Third Vis-à-Vis festival , at the Paris-Villette theater (19th century). From Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 January at 7 p.m., Saturday 25 January at 5.30 p.m.