ARCHIVES 2018 / The Faraway Country (An Arrangement)

For this unique project, created for 14 young actors, Christophe Rauck has chosen to ask two young authors from the École du Nord to direct it. Under Christophe Pellet's watchful eye, and with the help of François Berreur, they have created a montage bringing together The Faraway Country and excerpts from three other texts by Jean-Luc Lagarce: J'étais dans ma maison et j'attendais que la pluie vienne (I was in my house waiting for the rain), Nous les héros (We the heroes), and Journal 1 et 2.

The writing, narrative, and performances combine to present the audience with an idea of the collective, if not of theatre itself: a teeming ensemble of interdependent parts. With The Faraway Country (An Arrangement), Lagarce tells us in the present tense stories of lives consumed by nostalgia for a long-gone past. His writing is all about urgency and doubt, reflecting the situation of those young artists brought together onstage for one last time before they graduate. The Faraway Country is that of their past, of the three years they spent together learning and acquiring tools for the future, but it is also the one lying in front of them, which they don't know yet, and into which they will have to venture...

Christophe Rauck
Christophe Rauck began his career as an actor under the direction of Ariane Mnouchkine. In 1996, he directed Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle with actors from the Théâtre du soleil. He has also directed The Marriage of Figaro at the Comédie-Française (2007), Marivaux's Careless Vows, Racine's Phèdre (2014), Horvath's Figaro Gets a Divorce (2016), as well as two operas by Monteverdi. After heading the Théâtre du Peuple in Bussang and the TGP-CDN in Saint-Denis, he became director of the Théâtre du Nord in Lille and of its École in 2014.

Jean-Luc Lagarce
Jean-Luc Lagarce was a director, actor, playwright, and essayist. His work is among the most played in France, and has been met with popular and critical acclaim. Family, disappearance, unveiling, and revelation are at the heart of his work. He died of AIDS aged 38 after writing his final play, The Faraway Country.

The École du Nord
Created by Stuart Seide and formerly known as the EPSAD, the École du Nord changed its name when Christophe Rauck became its director in 2014. Every class is made up of about fifteen student-actors, who follow a three-year course. The school  is open to all aesthetic practices and specialises in bringing actors and playwrights to work together.