The Object Animates: Displacement and Humility in the Theatre of Philippe Quesne

This article considers the animating role that objects play in the theatre of Philippe Quesne and Vivarium Studio (France). The conventional role of object animation is often characterised by the performer manipulating objects and scenic material on the stage, asserting a control over the environment they are implicated in. In Quesne's theatre, this relationship is democratised. The theatrical apparatus, both materially and conceptually, is set up to enable the flow of animation to be interchangeable, affording an equal agency to the objects being used much as that of the performers. This theatre of animation is drawn through the framing concepts of displacement and humility. Displacement is considered as a compositional strategy that makes us aware of the volume of the stage space beyond the proscenium frame as a plane of composition. The introduction of large inflatable objects, real cars or large roles of fake snow foreground the objects material presence allows Quesne to play with moments of equilibrium, tipping, excess and absence. Humility is traced as a philosophy of objects that transcends the choice, handling and use of material items in Quesne's work. Simple objects take on a specific vibrancy because of how they give shape to the human participants on stage, animating moments of recognition that allows the human figure, its ethics, emotions and humour, to appear.

No Woman's Land

Willkommen Damen and Gentlemen! Roll up, stroll in and join us on a spectacular stagger through the post-apocalyptical wasteland of 1945. Before your very eyes the bearded ladies run on treadmills as they conjure up past and present digital landscapes. Masquerading as men for your entertainment, and their own protection, the bearded duo use gallows humour to launch you on an unimaginable, unconceivable plight of flight and migration. 1945. Lucia Rippel, expelled from her place of birth, walked 220 miles across the fractured landscape of Europe, with her two children and all her belongings dragged in a cart. In 2015, Ildikó Rippel and Rosie Garton retraced her footsteps, crossing borders, climbing fences, bleeding, crying, and blistering, and carrying their flat-pack children. No Woman’s Land is a politically charged, darkly humorous nod to 1920’s Kabarett, entwining the duo’s experience of the walk with Lucia’s story.