La forêt dans la ville (the forest in the town)
community project
La forêt dans la ville (the forest in the town)
“Walk straight ahead / Listen to no one / Trust not in the walls or doorways / For they will mislead / And close behind you / As you walk through / The forest, not knowing / Where you’ve come from / Or where you’re going … / If anywhere at all.” Renée Paule
Theatre and video community project led by Kate France with the Centre Sociale Georges Brassens and the CCAS de Bondy. A project with La Compagnie (direction Jean-Michel Rabeux and Clara Rousseau)
In fairy stories, the dark forest is a place to be lost or saved, a place of unknown dangers and unexpected encounters, where nothing is quite what it seems. The city too can be seen as a forest, full of dangers and strange meetings, where a miracle can be just round the corner.
In the Middle Ages, the forest of Bondy stretched over half of the territory of the Seine Saint Denis region. Now, there are only a few traces left; The town has swallowed up the forest, but the forest still has a strong imaginary imprint on the people living in Bondy.
This project involved two groups of inhabitants: retired people who have lived in Bondy all their lives, and immigrants who are currently learning French – although some of them have lived in Bondy for years.
We explored the links between our perception of the forest and the town, drawing on poems, songs, stories and the participants’ own experiences. The story of Red Riding Hood quickly became a narrative thread. We went out in disguise to the streets of Bondy, and to the preserved parts of the forest, and soon, like Little Red Riding Hood we strayed from the path…
The participants: Sonia Amadieu, Kili Aroumougame, Charlotte Causse, Bertine Djouan, Khadidja Jaffri, Monique Lacherez, Marie Marc, Florence Podin, Georges Podin, Françoise Seignez, Mireille Usayisenga
texts : Claudine Galea, Kate France, chanson du peuple Sioux / music : Balfa Brothers, Ceux qui marchent debout, Olivier Messiaen, Richard Wagner
Project with la Compagnie, direction Jean-Michel Rabeux and Clara Rousseau / administration and public relations : Fanny Delalandre and Anne Gaëlle Drouot / accountant: Philippe Dubois / Financial partners : DRAC Île-de-France (appel à projet Culture et lien social), ville de Bondy dans le cadre du dispositif FIA, Service de la vie associative de Bondy et Centre social Georges Brassens.
Public presentation at Bondy Town Hall, 7th February 2017
