Three creatures emerge from a swamp and take over a theatre stage to warn the audience about our fixation on speed, progress and performance. Cheeky and confrontational, they deliver a mock lecture mixed with short sketches, pseudo-historical detours and paradoxical demonstrations.
Author and director Jacques Laroche draws on the ideas of philosopher Paul Virilio to challenge our constant rush forward. Through the free-spirited figure of the jester, the stage becomes a playground where technological, political and economic impulses are exposed. The result is a gleeful satirical piece that takes the time to watch us run.
In his author's note, Laroche explains that he wanted to write for jesters, lucid fools who voice society's contradictions, covering overconsumption, pollution, democratic drift and biodiversity loss without preaching. The play offers no solutions. It simply invites the audience to look at where they are running, and why.
Text and direction are by Jacques Laroche, with Manon Peguillou as assistant director. The cast is David-Alexandre Després, Sharon Ibgui and Pierre Maestracci. The show is presented in the Salle Jean-Claude-Germain.