In Arbois, Le Grand Large adapts Moby Dick into a play about coercive control and the strength to find your voice again. Ages 9 and over, duration: 1 hour 40 minutes.
About this event in the Jura in Arbois
Moby Dick, a voyage under coercive control
In Arbois, at Square Sarret de Grozon, Compagnie Le Grand Large presents ‘Moby Dick, or You Shouldn't Always Believe What Grown-ups Say’. This theatre production, suitable for ages 9 and over, lasts 1 hour 40 minutes.
The adaptation draws on Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick. A penniless man searching for meaning decides to set sail aboard the Pequod. There he meets Captain Achab, whose obsession determines their course: to kill Moby Dick, the white whale that once tore off his leg.
From the hunt to domination
The pursuit of the whale is not the only concern of this production. Behind the oceanic myth, it explores the insidious depths of coercive control and the subtle mechanisms of domination. Fascination, isolation and consent extracted under the guise of an ideal are at the heart of this reading of the story.
Achab promises meaning amid chaos, a horizon to follow and a monster to defeat. The play questions the price of that promise. On the Pequod, words command bodies; the group closes ranks to the point of suffocation, while the quest turns into a trap.
This adaptation thus questions the space given to those who speak loudly. It also explores the strength needed to recover one's own voice in the face of words that sweep people along and dominate them.
A theatre of transformations
The staging embraces a joy in performance in which anything can be transformed. A broom handle becomes a harpoon, a bucket becomes an ocean, and a song bursts forth to unite the crew. These theatrical transformations accompany the story of the Pequod and its quest.
The artistic team
Benjamin Migneco is responsible for the text, direction and set design. Arthur Baratin, Guillaume Geoffroy, Anthony Liebault, Deniz Türkmen and Lorine Wolff perform in this Compagnie Le Grand Large production.
Sound and lighting design is by Rémy Caillavet. Sylvie Cieren provides choreographic input, while Luana Inhuma and Pauline Ménard are the painters associated with the show.