Seven shows in one week: the students of the René Gosse high school in Clermont l’Hérault are the lucky few who can go to the theater. Or rather, it is the culture which comes to them, via this program called “The artists at the high school”. An event in these times of health restrictions.
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During the pandemic, places of culture are closed … So in Clermont l’Hérault, it is the artists who travel. All this week, the René Gosse high school created the event by bringing together actors, students, teachers and staff. In all, 7 shows are scheduled.
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Fabien Bergès, director of the cultural center of the Clermontais community of municipalities and the Sillon theater, financial support and co-designer of the event, explains:
We imagined this programming before the Covid. It was not known that a year later, schools would be the only places provisionally authorized for culture. It is the young people who benefit first and in the end, it’s not bad!
Participatory theater
The playground is thus transformed into a theatrical creation courtyard. Mysterious boxes have been installed there, confessional style. Inside: a short face to face between actresses from the Tandaim company and high school students invited to introspection through the format of this creation entitled “In-Two”. Elisa Voisin, actress, explains: “These are texts by contemporary authors written for us and we say to ourselves: “I want to say this or that”, we choose live according to what the person looking at us emits.“.
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Elsewhere in a classroom, the course gave way to two very intense sessions “At the Father’s no“, directed by Ahmed Madani. On stage, Anissa is in the kitchen and tells about her quest for a father she never knew, while encouraging spectators to share anecdotes from their own lives.
Holocaust and memory in the canteen
In the canteen, redesigned for the occasion, 60 high school students attend the premiere of “Mémoire et Résistance”, by the company. The Devout Cry, directed by Camille Daloz around the theme of the Shoah. To complete this work around memory, the artist displayed on the walls the words from a collection he organized, and which resonate with the experiences of young people during the health crisis.
Words collected by the company Le Cri devôt and displayed at the René Gosse high school in Clermont l’Hérault
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© Cédric Métairon, France 3 Occitanie
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Theatrical improvisation of high school students at the CDI
Finally, the pupils of the first “Theater option” of the high school intervene unexpectedly in various places of the establishment such as the CDI to question the place of this art in the lives of adolescents. Mathis and Annaëlle told us of their joy to return to the stage:
We can no longer do theater, so replay there, finally, in front of the public, it’s more exciting, in fact! It takes us out of our comfort zone and it makes discover things to those who are not used to going out to the theater or going to see works.
These days called “Artists at the high school” are a breath of fresh air for the Théâtre du Sillon, their co-designer, closed since December 2020. Since then, it has given around thirty performances in schools in Clermontais.
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