Olivier Coulon-Jablonka Pièce d’actualité nº3

81, avenue Victor Hugo

First performed in May 2015, the underlying principle behind 81, avenue Victor Hugo is that of a commission made to artists for a show linked to Aubervilliers, the area in which La Commune centre dramatique national d’Aubervilliers is situated. The response of the theatre director Olivier Coulon-Jablonka and his collaborators Barbara Métais-Chastanier and Camille Plagnet was to roam its streets. In the course of their wanderings, they came across a migrants collective, based in the disused Pôle Emploi unemployment offices situated on avenue Victor Hugo. From out of this encounter with the collective, together with the exchanges, actions of solidarity and shared sense of militancy that ensued, the show was born. Performed by 8 members of the collectif, 81, avenue Victor Hugo tells of exile and treacherous life stories. More than anything, it is a reminder that what follows on from the unthinkable land and sea crossings is none other than the unassailable machine of the French administration, with all its kafkaesque exigences. Avoiding the purely spectacular or instrumentalization of the performers of any kind, the staging of this show puts itself at the service of these individuals who are so often condemned to invisibility.