“Will ou Huit années perdues de la vie du jeune William Shakespeare” by Will & Compagnie

SUNDAY MAY 21st 2017
at 17h

Théâtre de La Grange de Dorigny
60 mins. / + 10 y.o.
French (with English subtitles)
10.- flat rate

Reserve your ticket(s) here


England, 1585. The young William Shakespeare will soon become the greatest poet and writer England has ever known.

But for now, he’s a quite ordinary young man, obsessed by one thing only: how to tell good stories. He’s married to Anne, a woman eight years his senior, and lives in the heart of England in the rural town of Stratford-upon- Avon. We know that he’ll arrive in London eight years later to begin a very successful career.

But what is he up to during these eight “lost” years? Desperately bored in Stratford, does he daydream some exciting and adventurous stories to help him escape his routine? Does he abandon his hometown to live with a rich and mysterious young Earl to which he dedicates his poetry? Does he travel to Italy, like any self-respecting young man, gathering grandiose inspirations for his plays to come? Or finally, does he leave to wander the roads of Britain with a merry company of players, learning his future trade the hard way before settling in London? One thing we know for sure: whatever he did, Will knew how to turn life into a playfield of inspiration.

Our play explores these options by offering a kaleidoscopic portrait of young Will—and imagining what his life could have been, drawing off his future creations.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Shakespeare wrote from the heart. His plays bring us together, because something in them still deeply echoes in us—400 years later.

Something in his stories is acutely human, and provokes intense emotions—we bear witness to stories of parents, of children, of jealousy, love, life and death. What’s more, all these stories are told with heart-wrenching poetry.

Now more than ever, finding something that brings us closer through art is essential. Theatre is a privileged form of immediacy—we can speak to the audience directly, move them if we’re lucky enough, and in any case, share a moment as a community. Through theatre, we can identify with and open up to our fellow human brothers and sisters, to tolerance and to the consciousness of universal joys and sorrows to which we are all, sooner or later, confronted. Shakespeare is like waving a sign in protest—against fear, against walls, against inequalities, against resignation, against ignorance.

A young Shakespeare who’s seeking to bring his audiences together through storytelling is a theme that’s absolutely fundamental today.


Written & Directed by
Victoria Baumgartner

Cast
Arnaud Huguenin
David Salazar
Victoria Baumgartner
Léa Fanchon

Scenography
Projetco architecture
Florine Mercier & Ivan Lopes

Music Composition
Luc Birraux

Costumes
Marie Romanens

Production
Zelda Chauvet

Artistic Collaboration
Edy Ceppi


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