Breathe

Respire is a true story. It tells how our lives are woven from other lives. How my relationship with money is directly linked to the way my mother's family went through the war. How madness is a way to find a little air when you are suffocating. How to save those who follow us when we cannot save ourselves. Respire is a tragi-comic text that transforms my mother into a heroine of a silent and tenacious resistance; where my father acts as a savior in spite of himself. A small story shattered by the big one. At once ridiculous and strangely beautiful Which says that what has been impacted what is Where death is not as definitive as one imagines. There is my penny-pinching grandfather My university-educated grandmother An uncle who died in the war Another who asks women to do everything for him A great-grandfather who fled during the war And women who hoard Who count Who hold onto money Respire is an original text written by Geneviève Damas and performed by her. It is a one-woman show. It addresses with humor and tenderness the question of money — of the (im)possibility of spending it — and of women's autonomy. Starting from her anecdotal family history, the actress tries to understand what acts upon us and structures us. How a simple daily incapacity bears witness to the traces that history leaves on human destinies. Writing and performance: Geneviève Damas – External perspective: Vincent Hennebicq – Composer: Fabian Fiorini – Costumes: Émilie Jonet – Lighting design: Jérôme Dejean – Sound design: Antoinette Collard - Technical direction: Mathieu Bastyns – Stage management: Sarah Abd Ali or Paulo Wirtz – Assistant director: Mathilde Adoynaud – Production administration: Julie-Anaïs Rose – Exécutive Diffusion: Amélie Hayoz – Communication: Nina Dherte – Mediation: Olivia Goffin and Sandrine Bonjean Un show by Compagnie Albertine, in co-production with Théâtre Les Tanneurs, Le Vilar, La Coop asbl and Shelter-Prod | A delegated production of Théâtre Les Tanneurs | With the help of Fédération Wallonie-Brussels, Service du Théâtre | With the support of Taxshelter.be, ING and the Tax Shelter of the Belgian federal government | Geneviève Damas is an artist associated with Théâtre Les Tanneurs |