Rébecca Chaillon is bringing two distinct theatrical works to audiences, blending fierce political critique with intimate examinations of modern life, according to recent theatrical program announcements. Chaillon’s staging of La Gouineraie and La Parabole du seum highlights her ongoing exploration of social norms, rural queer existence, and systemic oppression.
La Gouineraie Examines Lesbian Life in Rural France
Co-created, written, and performed by Sandra Calderan and Rébecca Chaillon, who are partners in real life, La Gouineraie investigates the realities of establishing a lesbian household in the French countryside. According to production notes, the piece asks foundational questions about collective living and family-making through an ironic and tender lens. The performance frames the couple’s attempt to build a pastoral, “Little House on the Prairie” lifestyle as a political and joyful struggle.
The production treats the intimate sphere not as a retreat from the world, but as an active terrain for collective joy and resistance against traditional domestic norms.
La Parabole du seum Tackles Modern Crises Through Exuberant Performance
Following its presentation at the Festival d’Avignon, La Parabole du seum, created by Rébecca Chaillon and Cécile Champinot, offers a fierce and humorous pushback against suffocating societal codes. According to festival programming, the work uses biblical references, science fiction elements, pagan rituals, and physical exuberance to resist political, social, and climatic catastrophes.
The production employs free, uninhibited bodies on stage to counter the relentless accumulation of modern codes and pressures.
Sylvain Creuzevault Adapts Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Petrolio
Shifting focus to the mechanics of neoliberalism and late 20th-century political tension, Sylvain Creuzevault is staging Pétrole, an adaptation of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s fragmentary novel Petrolio. According to theatrical schedules, the production centers on Carlo, a protagonist torn between high-ranking responsibilities in a hydrocarbon corporation and transgressive sexual desires in 1970s Italy.
Set against a backdrop of intense political, social, and artistic turmoil in 1970s Italy, Creuzevault’s adaptation functions as a prophetic visual poem. The staging heavily incorporates video elements, specifically projecting giant close-ups of actors’ faces to disrupt traditional theatrical conventions and mirror the psychological fractures of the text.
Adrien Béal and Arthur Igual Revisit Past Work in Reprenons
Concluding a busy slate of late-year programming, creators Adrien Béal and Arthur Igual are presenting Reprenons at the Hangar Théâtre on December 15, 16, and 17, in coproduction with the Théâtre des 13 vents. According to project notes, the creators revisit a play they wrote together 15 years ago to examine the effects of repetition and bodily memory.
Operating entirely without original audio or video documentation of the past production, the artists ask what remains of an artwork after a decade and a half. The piece explores a central philosophical question: can repeating an action from the past help societies anticipate an uncertain future?
Performance Schedule and Venues
- La Gouineraie: Created and performed by Sandra Calderan and Rébecca Chaillon. Focuses on rural lesbian domesticity and queer family-making.
- La Parabole du seum: Created by Rébecca Chaillon and Cécile Champinot. Explores resistance to modern catastrophes through ritual and physical exuberance.
- Pétrole: Staged by Sylvain Creuzevault. Adapted from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s novel, examining corporate power and non-normative sexuality in 1970s Italy.
- Reprenons: Created by Adrien Béal and Arthur Igual. Runs December 15–17 at the Hangar Théâtre, investigating bodily memory and theatrical repetition.