2025/02/21

“Maître Obscur”

Part of the setting is a middle-class apartment from the 1970s to the 1980s, complete with a living room, dining room, and kitchen. In this meticulously reconstructed environment, the residents participate in a program to reclaim their daily lives, guided by a disembodied voice. As time passes, the protagonists develop an increasingly complex relationship with “the voice” through their everyday routines. These relationships grow more personal and intimate while an unsettling atmosphere gradually permeates the space. The artificial intelligence, simultaneously benevolent and disturbing, takes center stage in a work that lays bare the paradoxes of human nature. Through innovative sound and video design, the piece examines the political and social implications of these new technologies, blurring the lines between science fiction and dystopia.
This work was produced for the Japan Foundation’s International Creations in Performing Arts 2024.
https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/project/culture/perform/creation/2024/index.html

＜Performance Information＞
Schedule: September 19 (Thu.) – October 7 (Mon.), 2024 (15 times in total)
Duration: 1hr. 25min.
Venue: T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Centre Dramatique National

Written and directed by: Kuro Tanino
Performed by：Stephanie Beghain, Lorry Hardel, Jean-Luc Verna, Mathilde Invernon, Gaëtan Vourc’h
Translation：Miyako Slocombe　
Scenography：Michiko Inada　
Lighting design：Diane Guérin　
Sound design：Vanessa Court
Video：Boris Van Overtveldt　
Artistic collaborations：Masato Nomura, Kyoko Takenaka　
Set construction：Theo Jouffroy – Ateliers du Théâtre de Gennevilliers　
Costumes ：Laura Lemmetti
Props：Zoé Hersent　
Stage manager：Kei Furukata　
Stage director：Jean-Marc Hennaut
Production Coordinator：Emmanuelle Poyard, Camille Charretier, Chika Onozuka

Project organised by the T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Centre Dramatique National; Arche LCC. and the Japan Foundation
Production: T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Centre Dramatique National
Coproduction: Comédie de Genève, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Bonlieu Scène Nationale d’Annecy, the Japan Foundation
With the support of the Arche LCC
Created from 19 September to 7 October 2024 at the T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, with the Festival d’Automne à Paris

Filmed at T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Centre Dramatique National on September 18, 2024
Video produced by T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers, The Japan Foundation

＜Online subtitles＞
French subtitles translation:Miyako Slocombe　
Chinese subtitles translation (Traditional): Yukio Nitta
Chinese subtitles translation (Simplified): Shuhan Donng
German subtitles translation: Heike Patzschke