The Barnard Loop

written by Alessandra Ventrella, Rocco Manfredi
dkrected by Alessandra Ventrella
with Jacopo Maria Bianchini
régie plateau and scenography Rocco Manfredi
Réalisation decor Paolo Romanini, Joris Maiotti
sound design Dario Andreoli

logistical support Cie Les Karnavires

a special thanks to
Émilie Rault, AragoRn Boulanger, Luis Carr, Julien Lemmonier,
Amandine Buixeda, Joris Maiotti, Mathilde Letteron, Giulia Guiducci e Emiliano Curà

Photo: Francesco Cibati (Raw Sight Production)

A moka that pours coffee without ever being exhausted,
The pot of a plant that comes to life and takes our comfort,
a bed in which the most different objects constantly appear…

The night Barnard is confronted with is constantly punctuated by surreal events to which we cannot give an answer. We cannot be sure it is a dream, any more than we could swear otherwise. Whether asleep or awake, Barnard comes to terms with his own inner reality, seeking an apparent balance in the incoherence of his emotions, desires and thoughts.

The magic to tell a dream,
everyday objects that come alive to bring our imagination to life,
Humor to navigate our own interiority.

The world around us is governed by physical laws that clearly mark
the border between illusion and reality, but what if this were no more the case?
What would happen if our room and our objects were to disappear, move levitating against our will?

The Barnard Loop -nebulous in the constellation Orion of which we know exactly nothing about- delicately deals with the fear of being a nobody that nothing knows for sure, the feeling of being a small dot in the immensity of the universe.

Tableaux in motion and without words, the scenes of the show tell this fear through the journey of a young man on a sleepless night. An intimate portrait of the fears and obsessions of Barnard, a character who is perpetually indecisive and awkward, but who never misses an opportunity to reveal all his fragility.

The show is a tribute to the mysterious, the unpredictable, the destabilising and the surreal. A dreamlike journey of physical and mental states in which repetition, ubiquity, and memory lead us into an endless illusion.

Avec soulagement, avec humiliation, avec terreur,
il comprit que lui aussi était une apparence,
qu’un autre était en train de le rêver.”

Jorge Luis Borges, “Les ruines circulaires”

Production DispensaBarzotti

Production supports
Marseille’s municipality – “action spectacle vivant” program

Theater Laboratory Sfumato, Sofia // Officine CAOS, Torino // Centre de résidence de la Toscana (Armunia Castiglioncello – CapoTrave/Kilowatt), Sansepolcro // Teatro delle Briciole Solares Fondazione delle Arti, Parma

Artistic residencies
Ville de Billom, Billom // Théâtre de Cuisine – Friche la Belle de Mai, Marsiglia // Le CIAM – Centre International des Arts en Mouvement, Aix-en-Provence // Ax-Animation, Ax Les Thermes // Pôle Jeune Public, Le Revest Les Eaux // Archaos, Pôle National Cirque, Marsiglia // Les Karnavires, Mimet // Carrozzerie | n.o.t, Roma // FAP – Fondazione Aurelio Petroni, San Cipriano Picentino // Circuito CLAPS, Brescia

Production awards
“Odiolestate 2018”, Carrozzerie | n.o.t, Roma
Special mention to “Tendenza Clown Festival 2019”, Milano

The show is the winner of UNTERNEHMEN dans la culture 2021, a support program for young cultural enterprises organized by the French Ministry of Culture, Relais Culture Europe and the Institut français d’Allemagne.

Photo: Francesco Cibati (Raw Sight Production)