It starts with the last audience at a children’s judge, before turning 18. 8 young adults, between 18 and 25 narrate their own stories of growing in the foster system and talk about what comes next. Entering adulthood and the tribulations that come with exiting the foster care system. They make the voices of GenZ heard and shed a light on experiences often made invisible.

Second part to IRINA – which opened in 2021 at Arsenic – HALTE ends a cycle of research on child protection services. It is the 5th creation realised by working alongside young people who have experiences with foster care, immigration and/or school dropouts.

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Note of intent:

“Can a child be the actor of their own rights?

I want to address with them this question of children being active participants in the decisions made for them, meaning – because they are minors – instead of them. How can we “centre the children at the heart of the function and allow them to play an active role in their own protection”? The children’s parliament at the national assembly is a big source of inspiration to approach the subject of children’s rights. In order for a child to be able to claim their own rights, they first need to be aware of those.

What are the ways in a which a child in foster care can influence their own protection system? How can they become a potential interlocutor of the State?

How can their rights be guaranteed?

Thanks to the possibility they now have to go back on their past experiences with the necessary distance for an introspection, I am eager to be working with them on this theme.”

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Biography

Marika Dreistadt
An actress and director, Marika Dreistadt co-founded the company Point de Suture with Raphaël Defour. Her second project as a director, Irina, focused on children placed under the care of France’s Child Welfare Services (Aide Sociale à l’Enfance), seen through the eyes of a 17-year-old girl. Since Irina, she has led long-term workshops that have resulted in theatrical productions in Switzerland and France, involving 25 young people aged 14 to 22 who have experienced foster care, school dropout, or migration. The common thread running through all these creations is the question of children’s voices and their right to be heard. The upcoming production, HALTE, will conclude this phase of the company’s work devoted to the subject of child protection.

Raphaël Defour
A performer, actor, director, and musician based in the Beaujolais region of France, Raphaël Defour has followed a highly diverse artistic path. Through his exploration of various disciplines, he investigates the relationships between theater, performance, music, and writing—first as an actor and musician, and later as a director, author, and project leader within Microserfs and Point de Suture, in collaboration with Marika Dreistadt. His work focuses primarily on contemporary writing and performance, creating stage environments that evoke different representational forms—such as concerts, installations, and solo performances. Rather than pursuing a strictly interdisciplinary approach, he seeks to blur boundaries and disrupt familiar points of reference, creating a sense of disorientation and discovery.