Actor-marathoner Laurent Soffiati presents his new creation with the Cie Idéal Cinéma. A show run, written and told by the author, between reading, performance and meeting.
Next Tuesday, May 19, after two weeks of residency supported by the Théâtre des Trois Ponts, the Carcassonne author Laurent Soffiati will take the stage to present the play “Projet 100 Toi”: run, write, remember… a creation between breath and memory. At the crossroads of theater, writing and performance, this artistic project is part of a human adventure that began four years ago. Originally, a sporting challenge: running the 100 kilometers from Millau. A challenge taken up as a duo, accompanied by bike by his godson. But very quickly, this challenge goes beyond the simple framework of the race. It becomes a life project, a testimony, a tribute. Because running, here, is also running with and for someone who is absent: a missing friend, a founding figure of an artistic and personal journey.
“Projet 100 Toi” is the second part of a diptych initiated with “Cours toujours”, a show which already explored, through the metaphor of the marathon, the relationship to effort, memory and theater. It is also an extension of all of Laurent Soffiati’s creations around the poetic body in movement and in search of light: “And I remained standing”, “Cours toujours”, “On the black paths”, “Suzanne”, “Tomorrow, you will be the sun!”, “Prosper Estieu”, “La vie passene” are all artistic paths crossed by human force and this stubborn desire to stay upright. During two years of training, the artist kept a logbook. Not a simple sports notebook, but a hybrid space where physical sensations, intimate thoughts, poetic fragments and scenic sketches mingle. This material today becomes the heart of creation.
On stage, “Projet 100 Toi” takes the form of a theatrical reading-performance. In the center of the piece: breath. That of racing, of course, but also that of life and that of the theater actor. “Inhale, exhale, start again… it’s always the rhythm that never kills the distance”, mischievously explains the author, for whom this phrase has become a driving force, almost a mantra! The stage work is based on strong sensory research: PP for the lights, Jérémie Guérin for the sound and Timon Imbert for the music as well as the voices recorded on the dictaphone during training come to restore the interiority of the runner, this intimate crossing where pain is mixed, perseverance and letting go.
In parallel with the stage creation, “Projet 100 Toi” also exists in the form of a book. This poetic and sporting logbook, sold at the end of the performance, extends the experience. Because if theater is ephemeral, writing allows us to keep a trace, a memory, a tangible object which fixes what, on stage, never ceases to transform. More than a show, “Projet 100 Toi” is a gesture: an act of friendship, and above all an act of love. A way of staying up despite absences, of continuing to move forward, to breathe, to create. Accessible to all, fans of theater and life stories, the play is not only about running. She talks about commitment, resilience, and the force that pushes everyone to continue on their path.
On the Ideal Cinema program
In parallel with “Projet 100 Toi”, the Cie Idéal Cinéma continues a rich and committed program: after the presentation of the show “Prospect festive teacher” as part of the festival of Occitan cultures Total Festum, meet on June 27 and 28 for the 4th edition of the Festival Ideal in Bram, in the Parc des Essars. An artistic event hosted by the company for several years, combining theater, music and literature around the theme: “The Mediterranean in the heart”. On the program: musical readings (young audiences and all audiences), choral workshop (free access), meetings literary and dedications with exceptional guests: Michel Garry, Marie-Sophie Ferdane and Lydie Salvayre A moment of artistic and human sharing, faithful to the identity of the company.
