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A demain
Jean Cagnard
A demain
photo : Brigitte Pougeoise
Actes du théâtre n° 73.[ imprimer ]


starting age 4

‘‘The idea here is simple (but revolutionary): to see a day unfold from morning to evening, or more precisely from the darkness before awakening to the darkness before dreaming. (…). The day, a living creature, rising and falling, consumed and digested, begins with morning (Eyelid Land), quickly turns into mid-morning (Ten-thirty Land), then noon (Sun Land), followed by afternoon (Perfect Land), then evening (Children of the Clocks Land), and finally night (Springboard Land)… Our eyes actually have six eyelids, and each of them must be raised for the daily crossing through the sky. It is the journey of time. How it travels, grows and gets old through successive metamorphoses. And also the journey of light, its variations, like a glass book on a dark shelf. And these elements - time and light – fed by the ever-so raw materials of air water earth and fire, manage to remind us of our joys, our qualities, our mysteries, the magic of living and our incurable poetry…’’ Jean Cagnard.

Why We Chose This Text: We were struck by the poetic and theatrical treatment of metaphysical questions. The theme remains very accessible thanks to powerful images suggested by the playwright and the humor scattered throughout the play that is at once profound and playful. The writing is magnificent. The tableaux are remarkably unique, using songs, lighting, shadows, springboards with suns and moons ad infinitum, giant eyes on one leg, and stomachs with no heads. There’s lots of humor and lightheartedness to suggest a daily upheaval that lasts a lifetime and grips the hearts of young and old: the passage of time. Great mastery of the stage, all its possibilities, the sound space, and the place granted to the spoken word.
We also read and highly enjoyed L’Entonnoir, a funny surrealist fable about precarity. For actors and/or puppets. Starting age 11.

Words from the author: ‘‘The distinctive feature of a day, and especially its power, is that it embodies the present. A day is what allows time to construct a body.’’


Characters : 1 women - 1 men - for 2 storytellers – puppets and objects
Editions Théâtrales - www.editionstheatrales.fr

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