This Tuesday, February 27, at La Boussole, a place of cultural mediation open since 2020 in the Croix-Rouge district, in the peripheral area of Reims, the public begins to gather in front of the doors.
That evening, this small 49-seat room, specially designed for the occasion, hosts a theatrical creation imagined locally with a young troupe made up of three actors and directed by Aurore Fattier, associate artist of La Comédie de Reims.
Entitled “Landscapes with traces, Episode 1: Grand Est”, the piece addresses the theme of the relationship with living things and animals, based on extracts from conferences intended for children by Baptiste Morizot and Vinciane Despret, two philosophers specializing in the relationships between humans and the rest of the species.
“Do animals write?”
Are they crying?
Do they have their own language?
», questions which interested Aurore Fattier in this show which she wanted to be “light” but “accessible”.
“It was very important for me to get out of the theater, to have a living material, which can adapt to the constraints of the rooms in which we pass, with the logistics that this supposes, while maintaining a requirement which is the same as for a classic play,” explains Aurore Fattier.
Among the public, guests of La Boussole who are sometimes discovering the room for the first time, like Claudine
(the first name has been changed)
and her daughter who have traveled from the Ardennes where they live, or even young people from the neighborhood who are used to doing activities in this living space.
“The theme really appealed to us, animals, the relationship we have with them, it’s important, especially today.”
Bringing an audience closer to culture
Fenda Gassama, responsible for external relations and the deployment of activities for La Boussole, notes the work carried out since the opening of the cultural center.
“On the gauge of this show, we are 50/50 with invitations coming from us, at La Boussole, with the Comédie de Reims which creates a sort of diversity of audiences, it is a permanent work of mediation , bringing a public far from culture closer so that they can appropriate the places, since 2020, we have seen the results little by little.”
These traveling creations which take place three times a year have found a response.
From 400 spectators mobilized during the first season in 2019, nearly 1,000 traveled during the 2022-2023 season to cultural centers, libraries, rooms in rural areas, sometimes even for residents of nursing homes.
“We have been able to create a real partnership with the municipalities in which we travel, we reach more and more departments, with Aube, this year, in addition to the shows offered, there is also what is happening around with meetings with artists, workshops….
The Comédie de Reims, like all National Drama Centers, has a public service mission, to make culture accessible to everyone, everywhere,” concludes Claire Cantuel, general secretary at the Comédie de Reims.