The story consists of Elaine of Astolat embroidering an immense Game of the Goose. The embroidery is a symbol of the heroine’s initiation and depicts a ravaged island of love. To recreate this legendary piece, the collective embroidery will feature 63 squares, assembled into a 5 m2 patchwork that portrays the Game of the Goose created by Elaine. This textile creation will then be used as the backdrop to the phantasmagorical performance La Carte d’Elaine.
“The embroidery will be based on the version written by young Englishwoman Elizabeth Brown in the 19th century, which describes the Game of the Goose”, explains Inès Cassigneul. “The drawing was produced by comic strip creator Sophie Guerrive. We are building an imaginary heritage, or rather a “sheritage” or female heritage.
This theatrical adventure takes the form of an energetic textile workshop, which started in February 2018 in the region around Rennes (Bécherel, Hédé-Bazouges, etc.) and is now coming to Rennes. Anyone can take part and embroider at their own pace to support the creation of Sentimentale Foule and bring fiction to life. The centrepiece of the embroidery will be created at Les Tombées de La Nuit.
BIOGRAPHY
Sentimentale Foule is a French non-profit organisation created in Rennes to explore the performing arts (performance and visual arts), with Inès Cassigneul (author, actor, director and embroiderer) as artistic director and Paul Dupouy (grassroots education officer and socio-cultural coordinator). The company’s projects use cartographical language to explore lines of thought, places of memory, tangled feelings and imaginary geographies. They create new maps and stories to discuss and challenge shared and specific places. La Carte d’Elaine, ou la reverie d’une jeune fille (Elaine’s Map, or the dream of a young maiden) is a textile performance that will be created in November 2019 at the Centre Dramatique Nationale de Lorient. The company will mix collective embroidery workshops and events (a recreation of a huge embroidery known as the “Game of the Goose” will serve as backdrop) and a theatrical performance comprising an actor and musician.
DISTRIBUTION
Conception : Inès Cassigneul.
Dispositif : Cosmos Merguez
Technique et maîtrise de l’ouvrage textile : Muriel Fry.
Coaching et animation des marathons : Muriel Fry, Delphine Guglielmini et Inès Cassigneul.
