The stage transformed into a fishing boat. – EMILE ZEIZIG
Meeting with the author Catherine Poulain and the director Lucie Rébéré before the play Dernière frontière, adaptation of the novel Le Grand Marin, this Wednesday, February 5 at the Bernadette-Lafont theater in Nîmes.
“On the boat, the important thing is the work, we remember that we are a woman when we set foot on the dock”, exclaims the writer Catherine Poulain who met the public, this Tuesday at the Bernadette-Lafont theater, before the presentation of the adaptation of her novel Le Grand Marin, by Lucie Rébéré. In this first book, she recounts her amazing experience with fishermen in Alaska.
The first time director Lucie Rébéré read this text, she had tears in her eyes and immediately wanted to bring this text and this story to a theater stage. When she contacted the author, she was given carte blanche. “It's a gift, we felt free to adapt it” , remembers Lucie Rébéré. The book had already been adapted for the cinema. “I didn't expect a play to be made. It's lucky that this Great Sailor continues his journey much further, rejoices Catherine Poulain. The text no longer belongs to me.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Ten years with the fishermen
In her story, the writer, who spent 10 years working clandestinely in Alaska, evokes the journey of young Lili among men. Life is tough, but for Lili, it is also a freedom, an emancipation. “It's hard, you have to give it your all, leave the staff. They too have a fragility, a wound. I learned to forget my gender. There, I learned that it was complementary, that all these men were my brothers, a family”, explains Catherine Poulain, who returned to France and worked as a shepherdess, publishing her text 20 years after this unique experience.
The book became the play Dernière frontière, performed by four actresses, Margaux Grilleau, Lorène Menguelti, Nelly Pulicani with whom she had already staged Sarrazine and Valentine Vittoz. “I didn't want too much identification, it allows a step aside from reality”, explains the director, who did not invite men to the stage. Thanks to body work, sound ambiances by Jules Tremoy, lighting, she transforms the stage into a fishing boat.
With this adaptation, Lucie Rébéré necessarily offers a personal perspective. “Catherine Poulain has an ultra-singular, very organic language, which easily entered the bodies of the actresses”. Before starting rehearsals, she had built a model, which she sent to the author who had the impression of setting sail again. She also benefited from the benevolent gaze of Catherine Poulain, who accompanied the process. “But I never felt inhibited by her presence. I fed off anecdotes, continues Lucie Rébéré, because we never went fishing in Alaska.”
Wednesday, February 5, 7 p.m. Bernadette-Lafont Theater, Place de la Calade, Nîmes. From €9 to €23. 04 66 36 65 10.