Back Lacrima, In Avignon, the director of TNS interweaves intimate stories and lifts the veil on the secret.
The only woman to lead a national theatre, Caroline Giela Nguyen, who will direct the Théâtre National de Strasbourg (TNS) from September 2023, is both author, director, director of Les Hommes approximatifs, and essayist. (Theatre of the Heart, Editions Actes Sud). A regular at the Avignon Festival, he proudly features in Thiago Rodríguez’s 2024 program alongside Severin Chavrier and Angelica Liddell.
Madame Figaro . – What is the name of your new work? Lacrima. The playing field.
Caroline Giela Nguyen. – In 2025, the princess of England orders her wedding dress from a French haute couture house. My piece is the story of all the hands that will touch this dress. And these hands are both in Paris for sewing, and in Alençon for lace, and in Mumbai, India for embroidery.
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A project that has been close to your heart for a long time…
I have been working and writing for two years. This required going there. I spent a lot of time with Johanna Maubussin, the curator of the Fine Arts and Lace Museum in Alençon. I discovered the profession of a lacemaker, which is really fascinating. Lacemakers work in complete silence, spending whole days without speaking. Every day they make only one square centimeter of lace. Their profession simultaneously implements many areas: spirituality, devotion, beauty.
Paul Valeri has this to say about embroidering, another silent profession :” He did not complain of pain or duration. These beautiful gold and silk fabric pages have been out of print for several years. Beneath this grace and splendor is sacrifice and paradox, where the tenacity of the insect and the steadfast ambition of the mystic join the self and all that we do not want. »
Right! In the show, this is Alençon’s wedding veil, which really exists. It is a structure with a diameter of more than seven meters, which falls like a train. Thirty lacemakers would need more than ten years of continuous work. It is displayed in the Museum of Alençon.
So your princess of England will have this veil.
She falls in love with him and wants him to lead the creation of her dress. Back to the lacemakers, if they haven’t found their space of stillness and concentration, they can undo all their work at the end of the day if one mistake happens. That’s pretty sad.
If the lacemakers have not found their space of silence and concentration, they can undo all their work at the end of the day. That’s pretty sad
Carolyn Giela Nguyen
The show talks about know-how, transfer…
Another skill is embroidery. These are the Muslim men of India. This know-how comes from Persia. When we went to Mumbai, we were amazed by these embroideries, which we later found in fashion shows and haute couture collections. I wanted to weave this story between Paris, Alençon and Mumbai. Follow the making of this dress. This also allows us to tell intimate stories around the issue of privacy.
In the world of haute couture, there is a culture of secrecy…
The secret is something that has come through in all my shows. This time I wanted to face it more. I actually came across articles about Lady Dee’s wedding dress. There I learned that it was subject to a confidentiality clause. Even two dresses were planned if the main dress appeared in the press. There was a whole record of secrecy surrounding the making of this dress so that the paparazzi would not know what material it was made of. I found that crazy!
This is the starting point for writing…
I started imagining stories. To advance the issue of privacy in my writing. Mystery is at the center of their crafts, how they put their hands on their works, but also secrets that weave their lives.
How are fictions born? The secret, most often. The secret is deeply theatrical
Carolyn Giela Nguyen
Why does the secret affect you so much?
The secret immediately summons the other person and does not have access to the secret. It’s a fictional place that interests me. How are fictions born? The secret, most often. I have students at TNS school. When I teach young actors, I always tell them to come to the set with a secret. This allows you to have your own space. There is something game-like about it. The secret is deeply theatrical. I spent time with lacemakers and embroiderers for the fabric. My ear was attentive, and I picked up stories of secrets. This echoed the secrets passed down in my family.
Not all the actors in your plays are professionals. And this one?
I work a lot in different languages. The show will be spoken in French, Tamil and English. There will even be a part in sign language. During filming, I tried to listen to people talking…
Is there a stage writing stage for you?
In fact, I reject this term because the piece is pre-written. I work on narrative lines every day. What is said, where, what agreement? Which words? This is quite a serial writing. The story arcs are very accurate. Which character at what time? It’s very choral. I find a little sensations in my room Saigon. There was food in the middle, very shareable, easy to share. Sewing is also very popular… It creates a common space with people from different backgrounds, such as Dina Belli, 75, who has never set foot on a film set, or Dan Artus, 45, a professional actor. I needed a woman in her sixties to translate, whose mother tongue is Tamil…
The secret calls to the one who is opposite and to whom the secret is not available. It’s a fictional place that interests me
Carolyn Giela Nguyen
So it was a necessity…
An inner need to bring out stories that have not yet reached the stage. Discover languages and bodies that don’t exist. It’s part of the DNA of my work.
Lacrima, from 1eh until July 11, 2024 in Avignon.
festival-avignon.com:
Source: Le Figaro
