Joël Pommerat: Little Red Riding Hood

Translated from French by Akvilė MELKŪNAITĖ

Paulius Tamolė: “Pommerat’s *Little Red Riding Hood* is about a little girl and her loneliness. Do we, as parents, ever stop to think about how often our children are alone, lacking the attention of those close to them? How does loneliness affect a child? What is the relationship between children and parents, broadly speaking? What do we mean by children’s independence? This fairy tale is about a meeting between three generations. A daughter, a mother and a grandmother interact here. Our fears, complexes or strangers are embodied by the wolf. All of this lies within this original work, whose plot comes from the original *Little Red Riding Hood*. The play is very spare: as you read it, you realise that only as much as necessary has been written. On the other hand, this concise and concrete language gives the imagination great freedom. I am raising my five-year-old daughter Elzė; she is my Little Red Riding Hood. Ideas and thoughts come to me as I observe her and spend time with her. The stories of little girls remain the same as in the time of the Brothers Grimm; only the context has changed. We will try to talk with the audience about that context through the performance. I imagine theatre for the whole family. After all, children usually come to children’s performances with their parents. I very much want all of them to enjoy the time they spend together at the theatre. In the age of information, it is important for time racing by like lightning to pause, at least briefly, in the theatre. It is important, after the performance too, to find a place and time to continue communicating with your child, to share thoughts about what they saw, what they felt, how they understood it and what they learned.”

*Please note: The performance is interactive. Children will be invited to draw, so please dress them in advance in suitable clothes that you don’t mind getting accidentally stained.

Joël Pommerat was born in Rouen in 1963. After performing with a local theatre company from the age of 18, he began writing for the theatre in 1986. The playwright’s works are staged in many countries around the world. From 2010, J. Pommerat worked at the Odéon Theatre and also at the National Theatre of Belgium. In 2014, Philippe Quesne and Nathalie Vimeux invited J. Pommerat to join the artists’ association at the Nanterre-Amandiers theatre. J. Pommerat has received more than 15 national and international awards. In 2015, he received the Académie française’s Grand Prix du théâtre for his dramatic work, and in 2016 he received the European Theatre Award for New Theatrical Realities.