Description

A piano, a puppet theater-style puppet show, we reproduce sounds with our mouths, mime asteroids, weightlessness and takeoffs, as if we were playing in our bedroom.<div> Here, without any cutting-edge technology, with just a few props and theatrical tricks, two grown men and a flesh-and-blood "artificial intelligence" invite us into interstellar space where they are clearly stranded. Probably in orbit. They tell us about space exploration, its hopes and setbacks, from the origins of the universe to the present day, and witness the planet's demise from afar. As if we were there. The play is both hilarious and menacing, with its unique ability to keep us on the edge of our seats. Between a piano and a small puppet theater, we reproduce noises and sounds with our mouths, miming the asteroid, weightlessness, and takeoffs, as if we were playing in our bedrooms. We are there, among the galaxies and the slightly magical stage contraptions, like children, for whom the play is intended, but which, of course, draws everyone in.</div><div><br></div><div> Founded by Jeanne Candel in 2009 in Paris, La Vie Brève is an ensemble where actors, musicians, directors, set designers, costume designers, and technicians meet regularly for periods of research and creation. While the training program led to the initial encounters and the core group, La Vie Brève has continuously evolved since its inception, transforming and reformulating itself according to the needs of the shows it presents. Collective writing is what shapes La Vie Brève's creations. Actors, musicians, and singers are placed at the center and are considered creators and authors, not just performers. This polyphonic writing breaks down the barriers between the roles and techniques of the people who make the company's shows.</div><div><br></div><div> La vie brève is particularly interested in the relationship between music and theatre. The company creates "opera with the means of theatre" and puts music on and in the stage: whether live (most of the performers are musicians with jazz or classical training) or recorded, music is present in all our shows. The essential questions asked during rehearsals are: how do music and theatre "weave the action" simultaneously; how do theatre and music play together, play off each other, oppose each other, merge, and open up a depth of field?</div><div><br></div><div> This leads to experimentation with a wide variety of research processes, forms freed from all dogma, because they are rooted in the empiricism of the stage and its improvisation. The creations are composed of diverse materials, which make the frameworks of representation elastic: pictorial, cinematic, scientific, or philosophical materials and references all serve as play materials, called upon for improvisation and stage writing. From July 2019, La Vie Brève has directed the Théâtre de l'Aquarium, which has become a creative hub for the intertwining of music and theatre.</div>