ARCHIVES 2017 / Juliet begins

“If our objective is a society that allows happiness, it won't be possible if we don't fight against (...) all oppressions, which begins by knowing them, proving they exist, denouncing them, presenting them on the stage, and taking them apart, piece by piece.” – Juliet. In a city haunted by social inequalities, the King's death triggers a war for succession, a tearing apart of the kingdom, the overexposure of larger-than-life characters... Hamlet, the disinherited son, rebels when Juliet, a young factory worker, loses Romeo, the love of her life. Wounded by systemic oppression, she demands justice... With its Shakespearean bestiary and its stories of reconstruction, Juliet, the Beginning revolves around the question of the access to power for women and minorities. Written by Grégoire Aubin, a young author as comfortable with method acting as with cinematic editing, and co-directed by Marceau Deschamps-Ségura, who trained as an actor at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique, this epic play was presented to the latter's entire class at the Conservatoire. A work of destabilisation meant to free its authors from text and traditions, this play is, in both form and substance, a motive for challenging social structures. Nothing less.

Marceau Deschamps-Ségura and Grégoire Aubin
Marceau Deschamps-Ségura, actor and director, and Grégoire Aubin, writer and director, met in a drama class in college. The former enrolled into a classe préparatoire in Lyon before joining the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique, all the while writing a thesis on Shakespeare and the tension between artistic demands and popular ambition. The latter started working as a writer, screenwriter, and acting coach, studying at the Acting Studio in Lyon and towards a technical degree in post-production in Villefontaine; it led him to a different approach to the story (dramaturgy, screenwriting, editing), which he developed through various formats: short and feature-length films, TV series, novels, graphic objects including a children's book illustrated by Roxanne Bee (L'Étrange É). Together, Marceau Deschamps-Ségura and Grégoire Aubin founded the company La Cité furieuse, a place where they could work on the social questions essential to their work. Complementing each other, they have been able to bring new energy to art as a craft and a critical medium. Juliet, the Beginning is their third collaboration.