Manicomio, or the pleasure of being useless

« One day, soon perhaps. One day, I will tear out the anchor that keeps my ship far from the seas » Henri Michaux, the Clown Manicomio (in Italian) translates to « madhouse ». At the end of the 70s, Italy was confronted with the progressive dismantling of psychiatric hospitals, Raymond Depardon photographed several asylums on the peninsula, and more particularly the last moments of that of San Clemente. It is in this hospital, on a small island in the Venice lagoon, that he will produce photographs that allow us to understand, better than ten scholarly theses, the ordinary horror of the places. The subject deeply inhabits the TJ1 team and its artistic director Patrick Masset. The creation of Manicomio results from it: a show on the question of today's confinements. Created from meetings in places marked by constraint and notably at Vivaldi - Psychiatric Hospital of Bertrix, at the EHPAD Val de Meuse de Givet (France), at Centre Fédasil de Poelkapelle (West Flanders), and at Athanor de Dave. Manicomio is a place where we look at those who do not quite fit into the norm, and where, despite everything, a form of collective presence is manufactured. Like the company's previous creation - the formidable Reclaim which was a hit at the Poche at the beginning of last season - the poetic and delicate treatment of the subject could trigger something like empathy in the spectator. It seems to us that one comes out of it more tender... As in Reclaim, each spectator will take from the show what they like to take and not everyone will tell themselves the same story: « It is not about art, nor pure technique. It is about life, and therefore about finding a language for life. » Pina Bausch Chant Blandine Coulon | Circus artists Chloé Chevallier, Paul Krügener, César Mispelon | Musician in progress | Lighting creation and general management Manu Buttner | Sound engineer Antoine Delagoutte | Chorégraphe Fatou Traoré | Musical arrangements Jean-Louis Cortès | Costumes and scenography Patrick Masset | Constructeur Jean-Marc Simon. Production T1J in collaboration with Fomo Productions. Diffusion Fomo Productions. In co-production with Le Théâtre de Poche. With the support of Centres Culturels de Bièvre, Beauraing and Bertrix, Théâtre Marni, UP – Circus & Performing Arts, Wolubilis and the Interreg project via the following partners: Vivalia Hôpital psychiatric of Bertrix (Wallonia) / EHPAD Val de Meuse de Givet (France) / Centre Fédasil de Poelkapelle (West Flanders)/ l'Athanor in Dave (Wallonia), the Fédération Wallonie-Brussels/Service of Artistic Creation and Région Wallonne.