Summary in French follows the review
Extimité-s is a production that is unusual first and foremost for its setting: a small garden (‘Garden Party’) at the foot of the Rocher des Doms in the city of Avignon. On the open-air wooden plank stage, a duo is ready to perform. At the back of the stage, Zéphyr Seynaeve, who performs a slam; and behind a small electronic music kit, Isa Stragliati.
Moreover, the show takes an original approach by embracing the slam poetry movement, halfway between the arts of poetry and music. As an artistic genre, slam is resolutely political and engaged. Extimité-s is no exception to this legacy, setting it within the broader framework of queer narratives. In this performance, the text, freely declaimed by Zéphyr on stage and in the stands, is accompanied musically by Isa.
Extimité.s is first and foremost a journey towards others, a desire to make one’s own intimate story visible through an encounter with the audience. How do you tell your story truthfully? How do you express your deepest, innermost emotions, your wounds and your joys? Zéphyr does it with great simplicity and a sincerity that moves us from the very first moments, as the text mixes autobiographical narrative with more poetic and political sections.
In a style that is less activist than sensitive and emotional, the performance subtly recounts a journey through they life and parenthood, in the form of a personal diary. A life story still under (re)construction, a work in progress, both fragile and powerful. The briefness of the show (30 minutes) is also its strength, with its great density and beautiful visual moments, in a sober scenography using the relationship between body and space.
SUMMARY IN FRENCH
Au pied du rocher des Doms d’Avignon, dans le jardin du théâtre éponyme, Zéphyr Seynaeve, qui slame ; et derrière un petit kit de musique électronique, Isa Stragliati. À mi-chemin entre poésie et musique, dans tradition artistique politique et engagée, Extimité.s n’échappe pas à cette tradition, en l’inscrivant dans l’histoire des récits queer. Comment parler des émotions les plus profondes et intérieures, des blessures comme des joies ? Zéphyr le fait avec une grande simplicité et une sincérité qui nous émeut dès les premiers instants, alors que le texte mélange récit autobiographique et parties plus poétiques et politiques.
Festival Off (Avignon) Théâtre des Doms
Slam poetry
by Zéphyr Seynaeve and Isa Stragliati
Until July 21 2024
Running time: 30 min
Body and voice: Zéphyr Seynaeve
Sound: Isa Stragliati
Body direction: Julianne Kasabalis
Co-production: Lézarts Urbains with the support of: COCOF
Distribution
Corps et voix : Zéphyr Seynaeve
Sonorités : Isa Stragliati
Mise en corps : Julianne Kasabalis
Production
Coproduction : Lézarts Urbains
Soutien : COCOF
Photo credit: Barbara Buchmann