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 parents ever stop to think how lonely our children can be when they lack the attention of those close to them? How does loneliness affect a child? What is the relationship between children and parents, in general? What do we mean by children’s independence? This fairy tale speaks of 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 this is hidden within this authentic work, whose plot comes from the original *Little Red Riding Hood*. The play is very clean: as you read it, you realise that only as much as necessary has been written. At the same time, its concise, precise language gives the imagination great freedom. I’m raising my five-year-old daughter Elzė; she is my Little Red Riding Hood. Ideas and thoughts come to me as I watch her and spend time with her. The stories of little girls are still much the same as they were in the time of the Brothers Grimm; only the context has changed. That is what we will try to talk about with the audience through the performance. I imagine theatre for the whole family. After all, children usually come to children’s performances with their parents. I really want them all to enjoy the time they spend together at the theatre. In the age of information, it is important for time, rushing by like lightning, to stop for a little while at the theatre. It is important that, after the performance too, a place and time be found to continue communicating with the child, to share thoughts about what they saw, felt, understood and learned.”

*Please note: The performance is interactive, and children will be invited to draw during it. Please dress them beforehand in suitable clothes that you won’t mind getting accidentally stained.

Joël Pommerat was born in Rouen in 1963. After acting in a local theatre company from the age of 18, he began writing for the theatre in 1986. His plays are staged in various 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 playwriting, and in 2016 he received the European Theatre Prize’s “New Realities” award.