Jouir
A collective and exhilarating quest for female pleasure
Many of us fail to connect with our bodies and the pleasure they can bring us. But just as many of us have also suffered physical, psychological or societal violence that has prevented us from enjoying the freedom to assert our desires. In a context where female pleasure is often relegated to the background, JOUIR emerges as a bold and necessary response. Through an artistic exploration blending personal writing, collective expression and musical cabaret, this show invites a profound reflection on sexuality and pleasure. Revealing statistics highlight the persistent orgasmic gap between the genders, and there is no shortage of essays shedding light on the realities of women’s sexual lives. Sarah Barmak, Jūne Pla, Tal Madesta, Ovidie, Marina Rollman… many of them are highlighting the desire to recreate new erotic paradigms through humour, sensitivity and storytelling.
Set against the backdrop of intimate public spaces, JOUIR aims to create spaces for exchange and sharing where individual voices come together to form a chorus of stories and experiences. Where taboos are broken down, the discussion comes to life: why is there such a gap in orgasmic experience? Can we reinvent our erotic patterns? And, above all, is it really that important to experience orgasm? Through the story of a woman in search of orgasm, interwoven with those of the other performers in the piece, the audience is swept up in a frenetic whirlwind where orgasm is revealed in all its splendour and diversity.
Multidisciplinary theatre production – staged performance
1h20
Directed and collectively written under the guidance of Juliette Hecquet
Featuring Camille Dordoigne, Emma Evain, Juliette Hecquet, Cécile Leclerc, Joseph Lemarignier, Arthur Raynaud and Florie Toffin
Music composed by Joseph Lemarignier
Artistic collaborators: Marie-Line Halliday, Maxime Christian and Bedou
Costumes by Anaëlle Misman
Set design elements by Caroline Selig
Production coordination by Ludivine Rhein
Diffusion : Nadia Perlès
Administration: Clotilde Fayolle and Chloé Horton from the Bureau de l’Arrière-Cuisine
Tour stage managers: Tristan Guillot, Maxime Christian and Ondine Policand (on rotation)
Production: Compagnie Notre Insouciance
Co-productions and residencies: Creation grant from Le Moulin Fondu – CNAREP – Île-de-France; Chalon dans la rue – CNAREP de Chalon-sur-Saône; La Transverse – creative space for the public realm – Corbigny; Printemps des Rues – Paris; Éclat(s) de Rue / City of Caen and La Lisière – Bruyères-le-Châtel.
Residency programmes: Le Bord de l’Eau – Margny-lès-Compiègne, with the support of the Hauts-de-France Region; Les Ateliers Frappaz – CNAREP – Villeurbanne; Animakt – Saulx-les-Chartreux; Le Couvent – Marseille and Le Nid de Poule – Lyon.
Support from the Ministry of Culture – Île-de-France Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DRAC); SACD / Auteurs d’Espaces; Adami; SPEDIDAM; Fund for the Integration of Young Theatre Artists – DRAC and the SUD Region; FAI-AR; City of Paris as part of its support for performances; Chalon dans la rue – CNAREP for ‘L’Aube de la création’ 2023; Artcena and Eclat – CNAREP – Aurillac for the ‘Présentations de Projets en Création’ 2023.
Acknowledgements: The doctors at the Caen Health Centre: Hélène Hugla, Julia Rausch and Laetitia Giuliani, SCOPIE, Fanny Imber and Shanon·e David.
Press:
26 July 2023
Feature: L’Aube de la Création, Chalon dans la Rue Festival 2023, Chalon-sur-Saône
Tomorrow at the crack of dawn, I shall revel
By Stéphanie Ruffier
Les Trois Coups
Wet knickers, fist raised, mind racing… From the crack of dawn, the Chalon dans la Rue festival gets us going with ‘L’Aube de la Création’, a brand-new format that lets us discover shows still in the making. It’s as wake-up call as a strong coffee at an activist meeting!
‘I’m really scared.’ It’s written on her T-shirt. Yet Juliette Hecquet, a student at Fai-Ar, a higher education institution specialising in street arts, stands there defiantly, in her knickers, a watering can in her hand. The prop—as phallic as it is a source of moisture—sets the tone. Opposite her, the early-morning audience, seated on semi-circular tiers, watches her leaf through her notebook. From it, she pulls out snippets of reflections on her quest for orgasm. It must be said that for a long time she believed in the equation that is as hackneyed as it is tedious: ‘making love = having children = the willy in the pussy’. And it wasn’t the woefully inadequate school biology textbooks that set her straight: not a single mention of the clitoris, except in the Magnard editions.
In Jouir, Juliette explores the gap – or chasm – in pleasure between men and women. By her side is a young, boisterous group of female friends, in the style of a stand-up comedy show at the Comedy Club. They blow the traditional ‘starter-main course-dessert’ sequence – namely foreplay-intercourse-ejaculation – to smithereens, in favour of celebrating tapas. Onwards to erotic and sexual emancipation for everyone! Juliette celebrates the Rabbit (the famous sex toy, whose name she rolls her consonants furiously), whilst Florie examines our vocabulary and conducts polls by means of applause: it’s been over a year since she last ‘circled’. The vivacious Lilith, a figure embodying women liberated from procreation, embraces masturbation through song.
How can we free ourselves from male fantasies, from the male gaze that directs our eyes and our fantasies in films? This joyfully queer team sets about naming, dancing and deconstructing everything in sight. With a blunt sense of humour. Their personal accounts rush into the gap opened up by the many feminist essays and podcasts on desire.
The company had already adapted a comic strip by the sharp-witted Liv Strömquist. Here, it continues to pursue a form of light-hearted public education. Modesty be damned in this documentary theatre that engages directly with the audience! Juliette dreams of bringing Disney princesses and a sex worker together on stage, of spraying her performers, of undressing only to put on pyjamas… Her concept (a work-in-progress within an artistic exploration) is brimming with ideas. We’d gladly linger a little longer in this playful, decidedly intimate and enlightening moment.
Contact diffusion:
Nadia Perlès
06 52 91 42 23