Mange-moi si tu peux !

Show by Nathalie le Boucher, Mange-moi si tu peux or L’histoire des 3 p'tits cochons

The show « Partir, c’est ce que font tous les petits qui deviennent grands  »… That’s what the sow mother said to her three little ones. Then she hugged them. But the farmer is already there! – « Sauve qui peut!

» cries the eldest… And Poum, Pam, Pim dart between the farmer’s legs… They cross a wheat field, a river with icy waters, and arrive at the edge of the forest. There, three paths open up to them.

Behind them, the farmer approaches with long strides; in the forest, a hungry wolf is on the prowl… The sorrow of separation, fear, despair; imprudence, arrogance, greed; perseverance, cunning; or even cold, fatigue, hunger… these are all states, emotions, that pass through the different characters of this personal version of the 3 little pigs, which the storyteller enjoys embodying with a play of glances, a facial expression, a body movement, a dance step… Nathalie le Boucher I used to crisscross the small Pyrenean stages, as chambermaids or burlesque characters from Latin comedy, when they passed by… Bhima, with his big club, Hanuman, Keechaka, the imperious foot strike, the srngara gaze… My heart flipped.

I clung to their voluminous skirt… And here I am in South India, deep in Kerala, as an epic heroine, divine monkey, demon or mischievous god, pounding the ground on the edge of my foot; my eyes dance and my hands speak a timeless language… And then one day, I returned to France.

They told me: « Tell us a story!  » I took off my headdress and my Kathakali costume, removed my makeup. I started to speak… not easy after a few years! I danced a little… Oh!

… And then I threw everything in pell-mell: words, foot strikes, plays of glances, gestures, facial expressions… I removed, added, adjusted, sculpted… And this is what I told…