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, Direction Rébecca Chaillon Co-direction Céline Champinot With Yanis Boulahia, Hassan Gourniz, Loulie Houmed, Camille Léon-Fucien, Living Smile Vidya Nabila Mekkid, Julie Teuf Sound design, Sound operation Élisa Monteil Set design Camille Riquier Video design and management Elisa Bernard Light design Alexia Alexi Costume design Solenne Capmas General management (creation) Suzanne Péchenart General and stage management (tour) Suzanne Péchenart / Marianne Joffre Light management Chloé Roger / Selma Yaker Sound management Elisa Monteil / Justine Pommereau Video management
Elisa Bernard / Pauline Millet Intern in directing assistance Marie Delpit Administration, Production Élise Bernard, Manon Crochemort, Amadine Loriol Production, Development Mélanie Charreton / Bureau O.u.r.s.a M.I.n.o.r Rébecca Chaillon is represented by L'Arche - Agence théâtrale. www.arche-editeur.com
Production Compagnie Dans le ventre Coproduction Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna, Théâtre Public de Montreuil – Centre dramatique national, Théatre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Les Nuits de Fourvière – Lyon International Metropolis Festival, Comédie de Genève, Dublin Theatre Festival, tnba – Théâtre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Le Volcan – Scène nationale du Havre, La Criée – Théâtre National de Marseille, Le Carreau du Temple (Paris), Le Maillon Théâtre de Strasbourg – Scène européenne, Festival d’Avignon, Théâtre Sorano – Scène conventionnée (Toulouse) Coproduction supported by the cross-border programme Interreg VI France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen – EMERGE : Le Manège Maubeuge – Scène nationale transfrontalière, Le Phénix – Scène nationale Valenciennes, Théâtre de Namur, Maison de la Culture d’Amiens, Kunstencentrum VierNulVier (Gent) A project selected by the platform Prospero NEW, co-funded by Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The text was commissioned by the Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis (MC93) as part of Multitude, the Seine-Saint-Denis Intercultural Biennial. With the support of Pôle International de Production et Diffusion – SUN, Théâtre Léo Ferré (Aulnoye-Aymeries) and of Générateur (Gentilly).
The Dans le ventre Company is supported by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Hauts de France – French Ministry of Culture.
World premiere June 2026, Vienne Festival (Wiener Festwochen) I Free Republic of Vienna
La Parabole du Seum is supported by the EU Network Prospero NEW, the performances in Vienna are supported by the Institut Français d'Autriche.
