Baptiste AMANN
Country: France
FESTIVAL D’AVIGNON
Biography
Baptiste Amann trained as an actor at ERAC (École Régionale d’Acteurs de Cannes). Influenced by contemporary writing through collaborations with author-directors such as Hubert Colas, Daniel Danis, and David Lescot after graduating, he began developing his own writing practice alongside his work as an actor.
In 2010, he co-founded L’Outil, a production platform. He is also an active member of IRMAR (Institute for Research Leading Nowhere).
From 2013 onwards, he engaged in a large-scale writing and directing project : Des territoires, which premiered at the 75th Festival d’Avignon.
In 2018, together with production director Morgan Helou, he founded L’ANNEXE in Bordeaux dedicated to producing his future work : Grandes Surfaces, Jamais dormir, Salle des fêtes and Lieux Communs.
His plays Des territoires, La Truite, and Salle des fêtes are published by Éditions Tapuscrit Théâtre Ouvert. Jamais dormir and Lieux Communs are published by Actes Sud-Papiers.
Portfolio & Latest Theatre Performances :
https://lannexe.net/les-spectacles/
https://vimeo.com/1089692404?fl=pl&fe=vl
LIEUX COMMUNS
Concept of the Performance:
Ten years after the murder of a young woman, four apparently unconnected stories interweave to expose the truth. In this game of denunciation, who will really win?
I chose to shape this fiction as a thriller, a genre that not only delights in the mechanics of investigation (always a thrilling challenge to construct), but also lends itself to a deeper interrogation of our fraught relationship with truth.
This thriller unfolds through four distinct situations, each set in a different space, yet all bearing the same allegorical weight of the “behind-the-scenes”: the basement of a police station, a television studio dressing room, a painting restoration workshop, and the wings of a theatre. At first, the four scenarios appear entirely disconnected, but as the play progresses, it becomes clear that they are all bound by the same news item—a minor yet telling incident.
Artistic Statement
In French, Lieux communs is an expression that refers both to a cliché and to a communal space. What interested me in this production was the tension between opposed points of view on truth.
What becomes of truth in an unresolved situation? When facts dissolve into interpretation, all that remains is a clash of narratives. The risk is that our convictions would lock us into stereotypes. Our intentions seem to turn over against oneself, making it impossible to escape caricature.
In staging the piece, my aim was to create fluid transitions between spaces. I wanted the actors to be swept into a long continuous shot, reminiscent of cinema—but without using video. I also wanted to avoid change of scenery. We created a set able to suggest multiple spaces simultaneously so there’s a constant play on perspective and gaze—on transparency and opacity, on front and back.
Trailer
https://festival-avignon.com/fr/audiovisuel/lieux-communs-de-baptiste-amann-extraits-350302
stage manager – Zuzanna Rucińska
Cast: Karolina Adamczyk, Michał Czachor, Anna Ilczuk, Andrzej Kłak, Karolina Kraczkowska (guest), Julian Świeżewski.
