VIOLENCE FOREST

Out of my flesh that hungers and my mouth that knows comes the shape I am seeking for
Audre Lorde

What forms does violence take nowadays, and is it legitimate?
On stage, actress Laura Den Hondt is alone with three raw carton sculptures created by artist Eva Jospin: an installation that evolves from the organic to the mineral, enlivened by original music by Boris Boublil, Franky Gogo and Gautier Teuscher. In constant dialogue with this mutant architecture, which is part savage nature, part space of trial, part ruin of a fallen world, and crossed by the trajectory of Merry - the main female character in Philip Roth's novel American Pastoral - the performer deploys her impure biographies in slam and song.

« What interests us is the contagion between our present paths and Merry's itinerary: it’s from this intersection that we face violence, whether omnipresent or repressed, with its flaws and its terrifying obsession with purity. What remains foreign to us and what do we incorporate? What are the voices that ventriloquise us and how do we struggle with them? How do experienced truths displace and metamorphose us? »

Concept, direction and writing: Nina Negri
Performing and co-writing: Laura Den Hondt
Dramaturgie and co-writing: Marion Stoufflet
Visual and scenographic creation: Eva Jospin
Set design: Marco Ievoli, Eva Jospin
Artistic collaboration: Agathe Hazard Raboud
Original music: Boris Boublil, Franky Gogo, Gautier Teuscher
Lights: Lula
Sound: Rose Bruneau
Choreographic gaze: Bast Hippocrate, Isam Abad
Vocal coaching: Francine Acolas
Stage management: Nidea Henriques, Vincent Scalbert
Set construction: Atelier Eva Jospin, Atelier de construction Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne

Production and administration: Cie AlmaVenus, Manon Monnier
Coproduction: Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne, Comédie de Genève
Distribution: AlterMachine, Elisabeth Le Coënt
Communication: Elise Amal, Jeanne S. Rück
Trailer: Sante Moonie, Margot Sparkes
Photo credits: Manuele Geromini, Laure Vasconi


With the financial support of: Fondation d’entreprise Hermès - Festival Transforme, Ville de Lausanne, Loterie Romande, Fondation Michalski pour l’écriture et la littérature, Pro-Helvetia, CENTQUATRE - Paris

With the aid of: Théâtre Populaire Romand - La Chaux-de-Fonds, CENTQUATRE - Paris, Théâtre Sévelin 36, Les Compagnies Vaudoises - Lausanne, L’Abri - Geneva



ON TOUR:

Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne 1 to 17 November 2023 >> https://vidy.ch/fr/evenement/violence-forest/
Théâtre de la cité internationale - Paris 21 to 25 November 2023 >> https://www.theatredelacite.com/programme/saison-2023-2024/violence-forest
Comédie de Genève 19 to 23 March 2024 >> https://www.comedie.ch/fr/violence-forest


PRESS & RADIO:

>> "Plages de scène" - NINA NEGRI - Mettre en scène la violence sans faire violence
 
>> RTS - "Violence Forest", adaptation de la "Pastorale américaine" sur fond de lutte écoféministe
 
>> CULTURIEUSE - « Violence Forest » Nina Negri / Laura Den Hondt
 
>> LE TEMPS - Géant des lettres américaines, Philip Roth brûle à la Comédie de Genève
 
>> Violence Forest à Vidy
 
>> Théâtre de la Cité Internationale - Transforme - Paris
 
>> NINA NEGRI/LAURA DEN HONDT “Violence Forest” // TEASER
 
>> TRANSFORME | Nina Negri, "Violence Forest"