François Tanguy
Théâtre du Radeau Par autan

Par autan, the title of the latest opus from Théâtre du Radeau, takes its name from the wind which is also called the "devil's wind". The autanwind filters, in the form of music and lighting, into the curtains, flats, tables, loupiots and costumes worn by the actors and actresses. In the company of their writer companions, as they head off in search of adventure.

At a rate of a new piece every two or three years, Théâtre du Radeau has been accompanied by the Festival d’Automne on a regular basis. Its master builder, François Tanguy, passed away on the 7th December 2022, a few days prior to the presentation of Par autan at the Théâtre de Gennevilliers. Whiffs of languages, music, lights, and movements are omnipresent in the work of the company. No piece, nor story… that has been the case since Mystère Bouffe, over thirty years ago. Instead, we find cascades of light, shelters, escapes, and paths  forking in different directions, accompanied by the words of Robert Walser, Franz Kafka, Heinrich von Kleist, Anton Tchekhov, and Fedor Dostoïevski … Those that the spectator hears are friends, seized upon in full flight, signs, luminous, so that they can guide us in the dark of the theatre, and its tremors. Par autan puts back into service materials used in Item, and other past works. "We need to pick up from there, sew, and patch up, here and there, the shreds of air, breath and enigmas/and re-build the space", wrote François Tanguy, the captain of the raft or 'Radeau'. At his sides, a team of faithful collaborators, performers and technicians alike, unveil his theatre.