ARCHIVES 2013 / La Parabole des papillons

The Butterfly Parable makes reference to a 12th-century Persian text that opens on a group of butterflies pondering the fascinating nature of the candle and closes on the spectacle of one of them catching fire in the centre of the flame. This title is emblematic of the work of Michèle Addala and her team who, in their creative itinerary, take risks in the fire of necessary and perilous cultural encounters. “Workshops of words” conducted in the working-class districts of Avignon are one of the project's starting points. For four months, on a regular basis, Michèle Addala, the poet Valérie Rouzeau and the writer Jean Cagnard spoke and had the inhabitants speak about what “being a woman” meant for them. Around a table, on stage or in a caravan, they listened, exchanged words and stories. Following their instincts, sensibilities and cultures, the authors plunged into words and silences, anger and laughter to extract a “common writing” from them blending raw words and poetry. Moreover, Michèle Addala has incorporated into the show the work of certain of the company's year-long workshops such as that of the group of young “steppers” around Cheikh Sall. Michèle Addala's theatre jostles and is jostled by cultural clichés, joyously piles up the imagination of the inhabitants and that of the professionals, the noble and the dreadful, laughter and tears, waiting and bursting. These collages, overlaps and juxtapositions of moving frames attempt to take into account a collective experience carried out in Avignon in 2013.