Poetic insular drama
“In the land of wind and shipwrecks ”
What happens when a creative company known for films dredges up a too oft-overlooked piece of theatre from the vaults of the past by titan of film Pierre Perrault? We find ourselves thrown onto the banks of the river, right in the middle of the unrelenting wilderness and complex fates, dreaming of half-obscured horizons.
This bewitching maritime tale takes place on an island with a lighthouse, where a pair of taciturn parents live with their daughter, portrayed by the dazzling Nahéma Ricci, breakout star of the film Antigone by Sophie Deraspe. One day during a storm, the sea spits out a schooner, along with its captain and sailor. The young woman is immediately struck by a passion and zeal for exile as she strikes out for freedom. When a heart aflame stands up to the establishment, a storm is due, and no one can say which way the wind will blow.
Pierre Perrault wasn’t just a genius of direct cinema, but a poet of the river and the people who lived on it. This is clear from his play, Au cœur de la rose, whose words resonate with multiple meanings and which draws straight from underground wellsprings. In this show, Jérémie Niel, a scenic designer who creates hypnotic, experience-based worlds, meticulously directs bodies, sounds and light to celebrate the words of one of our great image makers.
*A new edition of Pierre Perrault’s Au cœur de la rose was recently published by Lux Éditeur in January 2024.