At the Célestins, Marc Lainé, major author and director

A life of love summed up in an hour's train journey: this is the poetic challenge of Nos Paysages mineurs , the first part of the Liliane et Paul trilogy, written, directed and designed by Marc Lainé, the current head of the Comédie de Valence.

In this elliptical piece with cinematic overtones, the viewer follows a couple through the windows of a compartment. Little by little, we become aware of their situation, their love, both singular and banal.

He, a philosophy teacher, teaches in a small provincial town; she, a saleswoman at the Bazaar de Paris, from modest backgrounds, visits her parents. Their paths cross in the mid-1970s...

The atmosphere of the trains of the time, for those who knew it, is admirably recreated thanks to a special device. Continuing his research at the crossroads of theater and cinema, the director has imagined a video device which, using three mobile cameras, films live and alternately the interior of a compartment and the journey of an electric train speeding on a very realistic model, crossing tunnels and increasingly arid landscapes.

This first stage of the ambitious theatrical trilogy had been programmed by the Théâtre de la Renaissance in 2023. It will be seen again at the Célestins at the start of the season (from September 23 to 27), followed by the second stage of this long-term project, En finir avec leur histoire (almost 3 hours of performance in all).

In this second episode, we jump to 1992… The communist bloc has collapsed. Long separated, Liliane and Paul wander Paris at night, talking about their only child as much as their post-1968 disillusionment.

In the background, we understand how Liliane won her independence by fighting a tough patriarchy; and how she became a class defector. Marc Lainé demonstrates, once again, his skill in mixing theater and cinema; he distorts time and space through the use of cameras and invents a beautiful wide-angle scenography. The original soundtrack, played live, by cellist Vincent Segal gives great force to the very complicit performance of the acting couple (Vladislav Galard and Adeline Guillot).

Third and final episode

We'll have to wait a few days to enjoy the final episode of the theatrical series. With The Writer's Room , Marc Lainé will close this cycle presented in its entirety at the Célestins, on the history of his own family and that of several French decades. From the disillusionment, in his eyes, of the emancipatory and political wave initiated by May 68 to current questions on power relations and patriarchy.

Martin (his theatrical double) is 45 years old, a director working on a show that explores the failure of his parents' romance. Through this creation, he seeks to understand the circumstances of his own conception and to reveal the unspoken words of his father, a writer awarded the Prix Goncourt (his father, Pascal Lainé, received the prize in 1974 for La Dentellière ).

He also begins a dialogue with the younger generation through his encounter with a theater technician. Between autobiography and fiction, the boundaries blur. Marc Lainé covers six decades of history: his own and, by extension, ours.

Our Minor Landscapes and Ending Their History – From September 23 to 27. The Writer's Room – From October 2nd to 5th at the Célestins