In the 1990s, 21-year-old Lucien Rossignol set out on an expedition to Siberia to study rocks. During the trip, the explorers stumbled upon a village home to a community that had been living in complete self-sufficiency since 1915 due to the dictatorship. Lucien fell in love with this village and its inhabitants; he decided to settle there for a while and amassed a vast collection of objects and pieces of music before disappearing from the radar in the 2000s. Much later, his younger brother, Sasha, inherited the collection. He would attempt to bring it to light and understand his brother’s disappearance… What happened to Lucien? Into what dimension did he vanish?

Lucien Rossignol’s original collection consists of 693 unique pieces. It was rejected by numerous museums for various reasons. We decided to bring it to the stage and turn it into a show. These objects, sometimes enigmatic, sometimes imbued with an almost magical aura, become the starting point for a theatrical exploration. On stage, four actress-musicians set out to unveil them, imagine their possible uses, and attempt to bring them to life. The show is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration by three creators: text, music, and visual arts. The text follows a dual narrative thread: the Collection, and the collector’s story.

Every performance is unique: the props used vary from night to night, paving the way for a dynamic and distinctive theatrical experience. The artistic team has already successfully experimented with this concept of a show that changes with every performance in Animal Farm, and continues this approach here within a new narrative and musical universe. A radiant production, like a joyful, collective, and festive hallucination!

With the Audience

Interactions with the audience are being developed on three levels of the show:

  • FOR THE CREATION: we explored the themes through questionnaires and writing and visual arts workshops centered on “totem objects” belonging to the participants.
  • DURING THE SHOW: Building on the team’s previous show—La Ferme des Animaux—ways of interacting with the audience will be developed and implemented during the performances. We aim to extend the Collection into the theater lobby by creating an exhibition space there and installing interactive installations, such as a fortune-telling booth or mini-challenges related to superstitions... After the performances, we will invite the audience to visit “behind the scenes,” the part of the object collection that remains hidden during the performance but is very much present on stage.
    • AROUND THE SHOW: Leading up to the performance, we will offer art workshops centered on “totem objects” that will be added to the Collection on stage or in the lobby. After the show, participants can take their objects home or choose to leave them with the artistic team so they can accompany the production on tour.

A co-production by ARFI & Compagnie du Vieux Singe

For young audiences ages 10 and up

School groups starting in 6ème (1st year of middle school)