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 much time our children spend 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 speaks about an encounter between three generations. A daughter, a mother and a grandmother communicate here. Our fears, complexes or strangers are embodied by the Wolf. All of this is hidden within this authentic work, whose plot comes from the original *Little Red Riding Hood*. The play is very spare: as you read it, you realise that it contains just as much as it needs to. At the same time, its concise and precise language leaves a great deal of room for the imagination. I’m raising my five-year-old daughter Elzė; she is my Little Red Riding Hood. The ideas and thoughts come from watching her and spending time with her. The stories of little girls remain the same as in the time of the Brothers Grimm; it is simply the context that has changed. That is what we will try to talk about with the audience through the performance. I imagine a theatre for families. After all, children usually come to children’s performances with their parents. I very much want them all to enjoy the time they spend together at the theatre. In the age of information, it is important for time, racing by at lightning speed, to stop for a while at the theatre. It is important, too, to find a place and time after the performance 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 come dressed in suitable clothing that you don’t mind accidentally getting dirty.

Joël Pommerat was born in Rouen in 1963. After acting with a local theatre company from the age of 18, he began writing texts for the theatre in 1986. The playwright’s works 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 dramatic works, and in 2016 he received the European Theatre Prize’s New Theatrical Realities award.