Improbable

Programming

Altair being an improbable concept, it is only natural that this theatre is interested in equally improbable creations.

If directing The Song of Songs is improbable, it is because it presupposes finding Mozart who could manage – without difficulty – to create this exploit.
I recognize this.

But without going so far as to look for Mozart, there are already many shows based on quite improbable alliances of the arts.

Today, therefore, an art that the French have appropriated for themselves: cooking.

I hear French cuisine has a good reputation. It even seems that we are hard to get to your house, with our noses puckered when sniffing what you’re cooking.
Make no mistake about it: it is to find out by smell what you have put in your stove, and how you have cooked it.

– Only the English have a bad reputation with us on that score. I hear they eat Marmites. We cook in marmites. –

Sorry – joking aside, so cooking is part of every French person’s life – and even when you don’t like to cook too much, you will have in your kitchen a whole bunch of different herbs for different flavours, a whole bunch of spices, you will be passionate about the war between sweet and salty butter, you will never imagine buying tomatoes from Holland (but why?) – in short, you will feel at ease with the subject.

And you’ll know that cooking produces a whole range of sounds and smells – which are very, very big magnets for children and friends from elsewhere.
The ‘ting’ of the oven attracts its son in an irresistible way.
The smell of tomatoes simmering with a pepper, garlic, onions and our herbs makes the assembly …. receptive, sweet, and above all focused: when do we eat?

I think you’ve found my point.

From sound to stage, it was one step.

And so it came to the mind of a company to try the improbable combination of food and music.

To put it plainly, this means preparing a meal on stage – using every sound – and that sound is absolutely part of the score.
Whether it’s the sound of a knife on a wooden plank while slicing a leek or the sound of boiling water – all the sound of cooking becomes the sound of music.

Of course, it is horribly cruel to prepare food in front of spectators – to let them simmer in their sudden urge to eat – and then let them go out to eat their pasta with water.

As a result, the spectators were invited to eat.
And so the sound of the cutlery, the plates, all these sounds of the meal were also associated with the score.

This gives a totally strange – and very satisfying – show called: The Temptation of the Octopuses.

Here is an excerpt.

This is what we call contemporary music here – music research.
It’s a bit of a mess at times – but it’s a very, very enjoyable show.

I thought I’d become quite serious lately. So a little lightness doesn’t hurt.