Cie Surprise-lumière

Cadeau

Theatre 5.1 / 55min

06 – 17 July / 15h25

Off on the 8th and 15th

Three friends are taking a walk in the woods. They are observing the landscape around them when all of a sudden an animal catches their eye. An extraordinary encounter which changes everything. Or at least this is what we can assume from what we are hearing, because except for the three people in front of us, the stage is empty, and everything is left to the spectator and their imagination. Soon, spoken word gives way to new meanings. Inspired by long walks off the hiking trail in the gorges du Doubs and by the songs that were composed then, Cadeau, is a singular piece because of its sound design and its approach to staging. Meaning emerges from the gap between what we hear and what we see, the performer’s startled and clownish presence, as well as the silent gestures which orchestrate their relations and the songs. The piece raises questions about society and ecology between the lines; what if, beyond its slightly slapstick comic dimension, Cadeau was in fact more political than it seems at first?

Concept Paul Courlet
Performers Paul Courlet, Maky Grochain, Juliette Vernerey
The invisible Fany Krähenbühl, Isabelle Meyer, Jérôme Colloud, Remy Rufer and Jonas Pool
Music and sound Paul Courlet and Remy Rufer
Light design Philippe Maeder
Hypnosis Jérôme Colloud
Dance advisor Clara Delorme
Staging assistants Floriane Comméléran and Mathilde Aubineau Costumes X-personnes
Tech Léon Jodry
Administration and production Simon Hildebrand
Diffusion Anthony Revillard

Production Cie Surprise-lumière
Coproduction Centre de culture ABC
With the support of the City of Chaux-de-Fonds, Canton de Neuchâtel, Loterie Romande, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Fondation culturelle BCN, Fondation du Casino de Neuchâtel

biography

Paul Courlet is a musician, sound artists and performer. In the 1990’s, he taught himself to play bass, influenced by the Geneva alternative music scene, and he performed with punk bands. He then turned to contrabass, jazz and experimental music. In 2000, he started working on his own musical and sound performance projects under the cryptonym ”Antioche Kirm”. In 2010, he trained in theatre with Les 3 points de suspension Company, and he has worked with them for over ten years, during which he co-wrote and performed in various pieces. He also worked on other projects with Dorian Rossel, Floriane Facchini, Olivia Csiky Trnka, Collectif 3615 Dakota, Françoise Boillat… he also worked on many music projects, with Gros Oiseau, Merzuga, Aulp Uma, Trigonometrie, and he composed music for the cinema, like Andréas Fontana’s ”Azor” in 2021, and for director and visual artist Laurence Favre.