« He who has been shipwrecked trembles even in the face of calm waters. » Ovid

In 2018, a filmmaker friend invited me to lead a theatre workshop at the Maison des Femmes in Saint-Denis, a support center for women in vulnerable situations or victims of violence. In order to familiarize myself with the space, I attended several support group sessions. The first one was about female genital mutilation. A delicate subject — delicate and violent, so violent that we prefer to imagine it far from us. That day, I listened to women speak about this mutilation, experienced by themselves and by so many others they had known.

In the group, people spoke of snakes born in the form of children; of women turned into goats, punished for their disobedience. Everyone in the circle nodded. These weren’t tales, nor allegories — they were reality. Most of these women had lived in a world where magic exists. Where transformation is a rational and sometimes necessary path. That session reminded me of Ovid and his Metamorphoses: the invisible lying in wait, transformation as the only possible horizon. Running through it all, the subjugation and domination of women’s bodies.

METAMORPHOSES
Based on The Metamorphoses by Ovid
Directed by Luca Giacomoni
Translation and dramaturgy Sarah Di Bella
With Diariatou Basse, Léna Dangreaux, Laëtitia Eïdo, Clémence Josseau, Hadassah Njengue, Sylvie Togba
Research and choice of music Eugenie De Mey
Singing Eugenie De Mey and Claire Trouilloud (alternating)
Assistant Director Giuseppina Comito
Costumes and objects Luca Giacomoni
Lighting design Bartolo Filippone

Production Why Theatre / In partnership with La Maison des Femmes de Saint-Denis / With the support of City of Paris, Meyer Foundation for Cultural and Artistic Development, Humanités, Digital et Numérique Foundation, L’Accompagnatrice Foundation, Les Ailes Foundation, Berger-Levrault Foundation, Adami and Spedidam / With the support of the integration programme of the École du Théâtre National de Bretagne / Creative residencies at Studio Théâtre (Stains), Gare au Théâtre (Vitry) and Théâtre de la Tempête (Paris).

Duration : 1h