Le Chainon Manquant

A TENDER AND CRUEL STORY

We witness the moment when a young, starving vagrant finds an old potato amongst the rubbish. Her meagre meal turns out to be a struggle to cling to life. In a moment of intimate connection, the potato and the vagrant come together in a delicate blend of tenderness and cruelty.

In a small suburban flat, Léon, a lonely old man, dreams of reconnecting with others. As he prepares a meal, his everyday life is transformed: vegetables, kitchen utensils and inanimate objects come to life, drawing him into a poetic and colourful fantasy world. Through this escapade between a gloomy reality and a vibrant imagination, Léon rediscovers a long-forgotten vitality, blending laughter, tenderness and moments suspended in time. But this magical interlude gives way to a poignant reflection on the loneliness of older people.

This multi-technique puppet show, inspired by black theatre and bunraku, invites children aged 6 and over and their families to explore, with delicacy and wonder, the often-hidden treasures of the generations that came before us.

Set against a backdrop of silence and spellbinding sound effects, Léon is an ode to social connection, to listening, and to the poetry of everyday life. A unique intergenerational experience, full of humanity and emotion.
 

In artistic collaboration with Wooshing Machine / Cie Mauro Paccagnella

Amidst the ruins of a crumbling world, a hybrid collective – free from power struggles and without a leader – tinkers with what remains of civilisation, building new foundations and new ways of being together, of forming a family, a choir, a humanity. The nine members of this small community are the driving force behind the reconstruction of this world – a world made of cardboard blocks, wobbly and in flux; fragile and illusory.

A spirited and deeply reflective youth emerges from these ruins, grappling with the various roles in Sophocles’ tragedy, clashing with the pillars of power and domination, hierarchies and established customs. Reshuffling the cards of masculinity and femininity, they explore their need for justice, fairness and rebellion, and reinvent themselves through gentleness and vulnerability, under the watchful eyes of their elders, who step aside to make way for what is to come.

A powerful, funny and moving production, blending dance and theatre, performed by a group of amateur and professional actors and actresses aged between 16 and 71, who explore the major themes of Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone.