The emotion was evident Tuesday, May 30, in the great halls of Emilie-Carles college. Françoise du Chaxel’s play “Here Is One Day I Will Play Antigone” was performed by 18 students, including four from grade 5, three from grade 4 and eleven from grade 3. They had played it at the Saint-Dizier theater as part of the Mai’scène.
In near-total darkness, on a dimly lit stage, somewhere between India and France, teenagers, especially young girls, face their very existence, admiring Antigone and Mirabaï, symbols of rebellion. Young French talk about India: “There, temples, mosques, churches, mosaics of beliefs and language” and young India, France: “There, schools for everyone and girls in all schools, women who dare to show their bodies and resist the male gaze. »
The schoolgirls lend their voices to Preeti, a young Indian girl who lands in Paris. “I often pay attention to the questions or accusations. To Shanti, “I married at the age of 12 to a man I didn’t know. I left the school that I love to prepare myself to be a good wife. When I was 15, I joined him in his village, locked up with my in-laws, beaten and humiliated, humiliated because I couldn’t give them an heir. Years of submission without daring to raise their head. Sarala, in the Thar Desert, comes to life. “I love living in this vastness, not happy just knowing this desert. The girls here don’t go to school, what’s the point? Homes, children, deserts filled our days. The desert attracts strangers who take pictures, they only see the bright colors that cover our bodies, our smiling faces, they don’t know that behind our joy there is resignation. Pierre, who is in love with Preeti, falls into despair: “I have no right to hold your hand on the street, sitting next to you in a cafe. Your parents took India with them. Nadiyan Paar’s music shatters the paintings, piercing despair and passion, fear and desire, resignation and will. The young amateur actors had studied and rehearsed the play in the workshop from the start of the school year with their teachers Delphine Bailly and Gwenaëlle Henry then, for seven full days, with Mickaël Monin, director of Compagnie Azimuts who would depart for other skies afterward. ten years of co-op in college.
The students were able to accurately and unquestioningly understand the feelings of each character and receive well-deserved congratulations.
