Philippe Quesne . Vivarium Studio

The powerfully visual and atmospheric theatrical worlds of Philippe Quesne consistently focus on the pressing issues of our time. For his new piece, a retrospective of his 20-year collaboration with the Vivarium Studio, he brings together the most important protagonists and motifs from his work to this point. The title of this anniversary play, located somewhere in between a medieval bestiary, environmental sci fi and a modern Western, is a reference to the 500-year-old painting by Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Delights. In a dialogue with this key work from art history, Quesne enquires into the core of human identity, utopian visions of humanity and its broken relationship to contemporary dystopias. In a grand theatrical panorama, this many-sided director, scenographer and playwright traces the development of human history, its highs and lows, its dreams, its will to power and its failures. In doing so he explores the rules of how to form a community and how to treat the world around us in an extremely poetic and playful manner. Once again Philippe Quesne succeeds in creating a humorous and lucid celebration of the power of the imagination – in response to the anxieties of our age.

Conception, staging and scenography Philippe Quesne, Created and performed by Jean-Charles Dumay, Léo Gobin, Sébastien Jacobs, Elina Löwensohn, Nuno Lucas, Isabelle Prim, Thierry Raynaud , Marc Susini (part created by Gaëtan Vourc’h),
Texts Original texts by Laura Vazquez and fragments by Shakespeare, Dante and Jan Van Ruysbroeck,
Musics Henri Purcell, José Mário Branco, Roy Orbison, Jérôme Bosch, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Areski Belkacem, Bernard Hermann…
Costumes, Sculptures Karine Marques Ferreira
Collaboration on scenography Élodie Dauguet
Dramaturg Éric Vautrin
Assistant François-Xavier Rouyer
Technical collaboration Marc Chevillon
Sound Janyves Coïc
Lighting Jean-Baptiste Boutte
Video Matthias Schnyder
Props Mathieu Dorsaz
Stage management François Boulet, Martine Staerk
Stage technician Fabio Gagetta
Lighting technician Cassandre Colliard
Video technician Victor Hunziker
Sound technician Janyves Coïc
Dressing Cécile Delanoë
Set build Ateliers du Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne
Production and booking  Judith Martin, Elizabeth Gay
Production Vivarium Studio Alice Merer, Charlotte Kaminski
Production on tour Aline Fuchs
Production Vivarium Studio, Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne
Coproduction Festival d’Avignon - Ruhrtriennale (DE) - Athens Epidaurus Festival (GR) - Tangente St. Pölten, Festival für Gegenwartskultur (AT) - Berliner Festspiele (DE) - Théâtre du Nord, Centre Dramatique National Lille Tourcoing Hauts-de-France - Maison de la Culture d’Amiens, Pôle européen de création et de production - Les 2 Scènes, Scène nationale de Besançon - Centro dramatico nacional (Madrid, ES) - MC93, Maison de la culture de Seine-Saint-Denis Bobigny - Le Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg, Scène européenne - Kampnagel (Hamburg, DE) -  Festival NEXT - Scène nationale Carré-Colonnes Bordeaux-Métropole - National Theater and Concert Hall Taipei (TW)