Scala

The more I watch Yoann Bourgeois’s creations, the more I like his universe. For Scala, I went to the theatre twice. It is not necessary to summarize his works by inventing a terminology such as « acrobatheater ». However, since Celui qui tombe, he has become a captivating storyteller based on his signature stage language. He makes gravity tangible, moving and meaningful.

Back to his apartment, a young man starts releasing his other facets out of him after a day of hiding. He needs a dialogue with the inner world, unlocking his doubts and fears. It is not surprising but slightly unexpected: a cache-cache with himself. I am here and there. How many versions of myself do exist? Is she real? She is multiple too. Step by step, each self finds a balance with the others when the cache-cache becomes a sequence, a pattern, or a loop. If this is a dream, I will enjoy it; if this is the reality, I will blame the moon.

Dreamers, they never learn. Life is a staircase with no return. You make efforts climbing up but in vain. Life is a circle when the tail of your staircase meets the head. Is there a destination? Probably when life ends. Mechanically and « effortlessly », performers continued to glide downstairs; in addition to the music, I became emotional:

This goes
beyond me
beyond you

At the end, we are just tired of ourselves, tired of being sophisticated and different from others. Or we are just out of control. The Scala theatre is freshly painted blue and so does the stage set. When we cannot stand ourselves we just paint ourself Scala blue. One day, when archaeologists remove layer by layer the painting from the wall, they will find out. So does Bourgeois make a poetic one-hour tribute to Scala’s long history since la Belle Epoque.