THÉO MERCIER
Skinless
50 min
Skinless uncovers a sensual, subversive love story within a landscape of compressed detritus. A recyclable piece at the intersection of installation and performance.
The audience is seated around a fairly astonishing assemblage: a ring consisting of waste, heaps of compressed cardboard boxes amidst which life seems possible. It is on this soil that visual artist and stage director Théo Mercier has written the script for a threeway love story that soon takes shape before our very eyes: two male characters covered in a latex skin gradually emerge from beneath the surface, crumpling the ground beneath their feet, discovering, desiring, and devouring each other, and sinking into a burrow of paper. The trio plays with the notion of desire and its loss in an inverted Garden of Eden where the “end of the world” becomes a possible new beginning for a new humanity to be constructed. The production unfolds in this spirit, as the stage is recreated from scratch in each city, in collaboration with local waste disposal centres. Théo Mercier thus continues his explorations of the use of materials as a way to regenerate our models and to reinvent our relationship to what remains.
Standing room only.
Discover the interview with Théo Mercier
Part of the 2024 Paris Autumn Festival
Conception and Direction Théo Mercier Scenography Théo Mercier, Florent Jacob, and François Boulet Artistic and Dramaturgical Collaboration Florent Jacob Artistic and Choreographic Collaboration Anna Chirescu Performed and Created in Collaboration with Bruno Senune, Maxime Thébault, and Aurélien Vieillard Sound Composition Pierre Desprats Costumes Théo Mercier, Colombe Lauriot Prevost Latex Costumes Mademoiselle Ilo and Arthur Avellano Accessories Etienne Marc Lighting Design Florent Jacob, Théo Mercier, and François Boulet General Management François Boulet, Sara Ruiz Marmolejo & Serge Lacourt In collaboration with the TNB technical team Production, distribution Alma Office – Alix Sarrade Administration Charlotte Cancé Press Attaché Laurence Alvart – Stage of the Art Production Good World Supported by Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès In collaboration with Paprec Co-production La Villette – Paris, Théâtre National de Bretagne – Rennes, Le Quartz – Scène Nationale de Brest, Le Volcan – Scène Nationale and Le Portique, Regional Center for Contemporary Art of Le Havre, Maison de la Culture d’Amiens – European Center for Creation and Production, Festival d’Automne à Paris, CCN – Ballet National de Marseille as part of the studio hosting / Ministry of Culture. Supported by Cndc – Angers as part of the Studio Hosting program Skinless receives production aid from the Ministry of Culture – DRAC of Brittany. Supported by Montévidéo, Art Center and La Ménagerie de Verre, Paris Studio provided by the CND National Dance Center
Théo Mercier is represented by the gallery mor charpentier (Paris, Bogota) and is an associate artist at the Théâtre National de Bretagne, Rennes.
Practical information
Grande Halle
Metro
Line 5 - Porte de Pantin station
Tramway
Line 3b - Porte de Pantin station
Bus
Bus 75, 151 - Porte de Pantin stop
Parking
Q-Park
Philharmonie
Q-Park
Cité de la Musique - La Villette
Q-Park
Cité de la Musique - Conservatoire
Parking
Cité des Sciences
PRM contact at 01 40 03 75 75
- Standing room only
- Several dining options available in the park before or after the show
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