In a Texas prison, N., sentenced to death, listens to the radio. A programme has been dedicated to him so that his correspondents can call in and read him one last letter, offer him one last testimony. Yet this surreal monologue captures a universal state of latency: our bonds with death and absence, with the moments that bring us together and keep us apart. The death penalty here is a catalysing pretext, evoking those suspended times that shape our lives. It entrusts itself to our words, which may or may not succeed in defining silence.
Joined by dancer Marthe Krummenacher, musician Viva Sanchez, actress Mélina Martin and lighting designer Jonathan O’Hear, Karelle Ménine, as director and writer, offers a text whose theme takes on meaning through our own echoes: “This is not about putting the American penal system on trial or recounting the history of the death penalty. It is about entering the heart of that moment and opening it up. It is about speaking of ourselves. Of our relationship with Death, and of the Life it contains.”
Special thanks to the Maison Saint-Gervais, Les Créatives, and all the members of Fatrasproduction Cie, Cie Umlaut, Laurent Domenjoz and Soursar, and the Association Amalthea.