Gare Centrale Dramaturgy: Agnès Limbos @ Manipulate 2018

 Ressacs

Compagnie Gare Centrale/Belgium 

A couple, lost at sea. Playthings for the prevailing winds, their moods tossing and turning, just like their small raft. Their course is uncertain.

The couple have lost everything: their stylish home, their beautiful garden, the lease on their shiny new car. The bank has taken everything. Their poverty is absolute.

Perhaps only Jesus can still save them, perhaps only he can return their 60′ colour TV? Pleading to him with their gospels of conspicuous consumption they are saved! Run aground on the virgin soil of a deserted land, the couple are ready to rebuild their lives… but are they fated to make the same mistakes?

What was the inspiration for this performance?

I 'm always inspired by one or more objects to start to create a new show. For Ressacs it was 3 reproductions of the caravels of the conquistadors (Columbus and the others ...) and a little broken boat. From that we work on the theme of the economic crisis and the subprime in 2008, the Belgian Congo and people being lost with nothing.

How do you feel your work fits within the remit of the manipulate festival?

Perfectly

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

Yes, of course. We use that type of theatre (le théâtre d'objet) to develop also an artistic and political commitment.

How did you become interested in making performance?

I believe it is inside me since my early age. I always want to work in art ... writing, painting, acting ....

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Yes, we work only by improvisations and slowly, day after day, we « build » the show, develop the scenography, the dramaturgy, the choice of objects, the story ....  It took us 2 years with coming, going, coming back. We like to work intensively 2 or 3 weeks .... let it go .... come back later ...

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Completely.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

A nice evening and enjoying our way of approaching theater. What seems to be funny could be also deep political commitment.

Creating humorous, bickering, larger-than-life husband and wife characters, and using masterful and imaginative object manipulation, the award-winning Compagnie Gare Centrale presents this bitingly funny and darkly satirical allegory about the dangers of existing purely for the material life.

Founded in 1984 the company has presented its work around the globe to great acclaim. In 2017 its founder and performer/artistic director, Agnes Limbos, was honoured as a featured artist at the world-renowned Festival Mondial Des Marionnettes in France.