In advance of welcoming Marion Siéfert’s production of Du sale! (Real Shit!) to Princeton at a later date, Seuls en Scène streams a film documenting the creative process behind the production. Last spring, during the pandemic, Marion Siéfert and her collaborator Mathieu Bareyre made the film as a Letter to the Viennese for Wiener Festwochen 2020 when it was evident Du sale! could not be performed live as scheduled at the renowned contemporary theater festival in Vienna.
In the film, by the time the rapper Laëtitia Kerfa says: “Normality is killing me,” viewers are already deep into the production process underpinning Du Sale! French director Marion Siéfert and her artistic partner Matthieu Bareyre offer a very personal insight into the show’s rehearsals with two exceptional performers and their quest for their own personal identity. On stage, rapper Laëtitia Kerfa searches for the truth through her rap lyrics and encounters the figure of Lady Macbeth. Her stage partner, Litefeet dancer Janice Bieleu, opts for stillness and the human body as her own personal means of expression. With her keen instincts and her gift for micro-observations, Siéfert has taken a gamble with her theatrical experiment, but ultimately it pays off handsome dividends.
The young director Marion Siéfert sees theater as a collective setting for vivid stories. Her award-winning third theatrical work was created through a collaboration with a community theater in a “banlieue” of Paris. It was there that Siéfert met the dancer Janice Bieleu and the rapper Laëtitia Kerfa a. k. a. Original Laeti. Du Sale! (Real Shit!) provides a stage for their complex biographies. The concentrated staging tells the story of harsh realities and gentle dreams, of beauty, hope and a thirst for life: “My mess seriously gives me this huge freedom.” Rap music and Litefeet dance combine to assert themselves against clichés founded in class discrimination. No artificial directorial concept was imposed on the two performers; rather, this is theater of self-empowerment. And there’s more to this theatre than just ‘Macbeth’. For instance: talking about real shit.
The film is presented in French with English subtitles. The virtual event is free and open to the public.
WATCH THE EVENT
The film was available to watch on this page from September 10-13, 2020.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
On September 13 at 4 p.m. (EDT), join a live conversation with Marion Siéfert and Mathieu Bareyre on Zoom in French following the online presentation of the “Film Documenting the Creative Process Behind Du sale! (Real shit!).” Advance registration required; Register for the Conversation
ACCESSIBILITY
If you are in need of access accommodations in order to participate in this event, please contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least 2 weeks in advance of the event date.
