Total autonomy over costumes
“It’s hard to reconcile pop and Molière, it’s not at all the same era,” testifies Jeanne Guérit, a third-year college student at Archiac. Accompanied by Fabienne Berthelot, her French teacher, she speaks expertly, she has taken theater lessons for three years at the School of Arts and, every Wednesday, plays in an association at the Château de Panloy. She highlights another advantage. “We work a lot. At the School of Arts, we only play once, there we play four times.” She will take the theater option in high school. Seyane Bibiard, a sixth-grade student from the same theater club, is in his second year of experience. He started at the Germignac school and has the firm intention of continuing. “More than half of the club’s students did theater in Germignac. This year, we gave them total autonomy over the costumes. “Handle over it!” We don’t bring them everything on a platter every time,” explains Fabienne Berthelot. She has been doing theater with her students for around thirty years, and has participated in the operation since its creation twenty-five years ago.
A collective work of all the teachers
“It’s really a collective work of all the teachers, and we must thank our partners (1),” adds Aude Gaboriau. Whether the students worked on extracts from Molière, imagined a destiny for two characters from his plays, or played the “Bourgeois Gentleman” in an 1980s version, everyone got involved in the game. “President Macron was right when he said that theater should be a compulsory part of college because it gives confidence,” adds Fabienne Berthelot. General rehearsals took place on both days, and on Thursday and Friday evening, they presented their creations to their parents, in performances reserved for them. The latter could be proud of their children.
