According to what he has told us—from what we have understood him to mean, since he is abstaining from writing or reading anything at all for this project—the talented Joël Maillard is making a project on cultural survival without books, notebooks or computers. Armed only with his necessarily faulty memory and relying on a process of exchanges with his project colleagues (who are subject to the same limitations)—Marie Ripoll on the stage, Louis Jucker for the music, Tiphanie Bovay-Klameth as “external brain”—he explores human memory and oral transmission as the only medium for creation: no literary or digital research, no notes, no tip sheets, and therefore also, no editing this presentation text. Without effort… or almost.

Joël Maillard (1978) is an actor, director and author. About ten of his texts have been staged to date, by him and others. In his plays, he seeks to challenge his perception of the plaguing situation we are currently experiencing on Earth. In particular, the delicate link between our unsatisfactory quest for technical mastery and our desire to last. His two previous creations, Quitter la Terre (2017), and Imposture posthume (2019) have toured and are still touring in Switzerland and France.

Marie Ripoll (1987) is an actress and musician. After her training at La Manufacture, she collaborated with TG Stan, Émilie Charriot, Jean-Daniel Piguet and Alain Borek, among others. She is co-founder of the “Collectif moitié moitié moitié” whose first creation Histoires sans gloire et pratiquement sans péril pour 4 voix sur pente raide, tours in Switzerland and France in 2019.