On the left, on the Mediterranean terrace, seven musicians and a mezzo-soprano; on the stage, seven dancers; in the background, the large mirror shows extracts from Jean-Daniel Pollet’s film L’Ordre, which takes as its subject the last European leprosy colony on the island of Spinalonga, off the coast of Crete, at the crossroads of East and West.
Against a background of melodies by Vivaldi, medieval polyphonic chants and rebetiko – a music of spiraling oriental blues touched by gypsy accents – Ali and Hèdi Thabet build an intense performance, in which artistic forms mingle. With the words of Raimondakis, one of the people with leprosy and one of the island’s true characters, they associate a free interpretation of the myth of Narcissus, symbol of beauty, but also of love and exile. While questioning notions of normality, rejection and attraction, the two brothers create a dialogue between music, movement and the poetry of René Char. A total art that draws from the well of Greece, in the cradle of Europe, to explore the situation of the artist examining themselves as well as the condition of actor and spectator.
Cast
Concept: Ali & Hèdi Thabet
Dramaturgie: Hèdi Thabet
Music direction: Ali Thabet
Scenography & costumes: Florence Samain
Lights: Ana Samoilovich
Sound & video: Aurélien Cros
Dancers: Laida Aldaz Arrietta, Léa Dubois, Viktoria Antonova, Julia Färber, Benfury, Artémis Stavridi & Hèdi Thabet
Vocals: Mehdi Ayachi
Lyric singer: Catherine Bourgeois
Vocals, kanun: Mourad Brahim
Bouzouki: Michalis Dimas
Violin: Stefanos Filos
Clarinet, ney, laouto, vocals: Ilias Markantonis
Vocals, guitar: Ioannis Niarchios
Baglama vocals: Foteini Papadopoulou
Production manager: Etat d’esprit productions
Coproduction: Théâtre National de Wallonie-Bruxelles, les Théâtres de la ville de Luxembourg, Maison de la culture Amiens, ThéâtredelaCité – CDN Toulouse Occitanie, Maison des arts de Créteil, la Comète – Scène nationale de Châlons-en-Champagne, Théâtres en Dracénie – Draguignan & Etat d’esprit productions
With the support of Adami, la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, la Chaire Mahmoud Darwich/Bozar & la Villette-Paris