Kumulus

• 1986
• France

Inspired by the work of Pina Bausch, Jérôme Bosch and Alain Platel, Barthélemy Bompard imbues his creations with a dash of German expressionism.

Focusing on topical themes which he considers to be vital to the advancement of human consciousness, and buoyed by his past experience with the company and elsewhere (Le Zéro de conduite, Speedy Banana, les Piétons), he has made a conscious decision to stage his shows in urban environments, with the intention of making them accessible to a broader, more diverse audience.

Make no mistake about it: this is theatre. Les Squames tackles the issue of racism, SDF looks at social exclusion, Itinéraire sans fond(s) is an evocation of exile, and as for Les Pendus… The actors, most of them regular collaborators of the company, dissect day-to-day situations through the prism of language and emotions.

Audience members, meanwhile, are plunged into a voyeuristic contemplation of their own existence and the most extreme possibilities it might conceivably throw up.

These shows, which in the company’s early days were created exclusively with the streets in mind, are now increasingly adaptable to other spaces such as courtyards, hangars, theatres etc. The real priority here is to defend the tradition of political theatre tooth and nail, wherever it happens to be performed.