Inspired by the biographies of a pop star and an astrophysicist who are from the same banlieue near Paris as herself, the stigmatised district of Saint-Denis (93), Rébecca Chaillon tells a story of survival as part of a minority with Parable of the Sour. Chaillon, who calls herself a ‘Black, fat, childless, ageing lesbian’ and who is one of the most influential new voices in France’s cultural landscape, delivers a rebellious science fiction performance full of empathy, humour and lyricism with her latest production. Following Octavia Butler’s visionary novel Parable of the Sower, in which an adolescent girl devises her own religion, Parable of the Sour is an inspirational fable about the magic of faith. It focuses on a community of fat people who remain committed even in the face of a perpetual fear of breakdown, brutal crimes and collective paralysis. Parable of the Sour is an equally comical and radical conquest of a humane future.
Text, DirectionRébecca ChaillonCo-directionCéline Champinot With Hassan Gourniz, Loulie Houmed, Camille Léon-Fucien, Living Smile Vidya, Nabila Mekkid, Julie Teuf and another performer Sound design, sound operator Élisa Monteil Set design Camille Riquier Video design Elisa Bernard Light design Alexia Alexi Technical direction Suzanne Péchenart Administration, Production Élise Bernard, Amadine Loriol Production direction, Development Mélanie Charreton / Bureau O.u.r.s.a M.I.n.o.r
Production Compagnie Dans le ventre Coproduction Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna, Théâtre Public de Montreuil – Centre dramatique national, tnba – Théâtre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Les Nuits de Fourvière (Lyon), Le Carreau du Temple (Paris), Comédie de Genève, Théatre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Maillon Théâtre de Strasbourg – Scène européenne, Le Volcan – Scène nationale du Havre, Théâtre Sorano – Scène conventionnée (Toulouse), Le Phenix scène nationale Valenciennes Métropole - Pôle Européen de Création, Le Manège Maubeuge – Scène nationale transfrontalière supported by the cross-border programme Interreg VI France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen – EMERGE
The Compagnie Dans le ventre is supported by the Hauts de France Regional Cultural Affairs Directorate.
World premiere 11 June 2026, Vienne Festival (Wiener Festwochen) I Free Republic of Vienna
