Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï (2018-2019)

English Title

Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï

Director

Paul Moulin

Playwright

From the comic book by Fabrice Caro (aka Fabcaro), adapted by (the wonderful & talented) Maïa Sandoz.

Year

2018

Form

Play—Performed in the manner of a radio play.

Duration

50 mins

Synopsis

At a supermarket checkout, Fabrice is about to pay for his shopping. He slips a hand into his pocket in search of his loyalty card, but it cannot be found. As he tries in vain to justify his forgetfulness, the cashier calls security. Frightened, he fled. In a society where speech is free and judgment king, this incident quickly turns into a real manhunt.

About the production

After Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï by Fabcaro

Stage direction

Paul Moulin

Adaptation

Maïa Sandoz

Sound creation

Christophe Danvin

With

Aymeric Demarigny

Blanche Gardin

Adèle Haenel

Cyrille Labbé

Aurélie Verillon

Élisa Bourreau

Maxime Coggio

Christophe Danvin

With the voice of

Serge Biavan

Artistic collaboration

Maïa Sandoz

Light creation

Emmanuel Noblet

Scenography & costumes

Paul Moulin

Sound recording, editing, & mixing

Jean-François Domingues

Production

Théâtre de L'Argument

Performed at

Le Monfort Theater

23 Jan to 9 Feb 19, 2018

Pulp Festival

6/7/8 April 2018

National Theatre of Brittany

February 26—March 2, 2019

About converting a comic book into a stage play
(my bolding)

“We would nevertheless bet that Fabcaro is currently asking himself, and like everyone else, the big question: unless you absolutely want to offer a string of bad sketches in a pasteboard decor, is it very reasonable to pretend to adapt a comic strip on stage which, with its few pages, its dozens of characters, its almost identical boxes and its minimal line, its constant ellipses and breaks in tone, seems in every way inappropriate - or worse, typically the kind of work of which any fan would consider it a supreme scandal to want to adapt it? The answer is clearly no. Except to find a brilliant twist, as Paul Moulin and Maïa Sandoz were able to do: not to stage the comic strip in a naturalistic way, but to make it a radio fiction made at sight, with a noise maker and a sound boom, "To transcribe all the madness of the comic strip," continues Paul, "when staging, doing it to sound seemed more fanciful."

Anyone who has ever seen actors in the middle of dubbing or vocal creation has surely made the point: it is dramatically magnificent to see almost static actors in front of their microphones inventing the most impromptu timbres, to see them twist the face to condense the energy of a character in his only voice. To see them slide between incarnation and disembodiment, entering and leaving the game without having only spotted where the door was. We made reports and documentaries of it, more rarely shows. And it is this kind of pleasure that this Zaï Zaï… theatrical gives us , "that of seeing the technique at work", specifies Maïa Sandoz, that of "touching in a way what Diderot says in the paradox of the actor," underlines Blanche Gardin, the one who surely presents here the most extensible game palette, starting from the supermarket cashier to finish on the negotiating cop passing by the child or the old truck driver. “Being able to play 10,000 characters in a few minutes, and all that without moving or almost, you really have the impression of being at HP. And what it gives the spectator is surely the feeling of seeing puppets.” That also of feeling a rare and primary emotion, that of the pure pleasure of playing together - undoubtedly the ransom of what binds all these actors for years and which they brandish as a "politics of friendship".

Eve Beauvallet, Liberation

https://next.liberation.fr/theatre/2018/04/05/zai-zai-zai-zai-une-bd-culte-tres-sonore_1641308

Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï: l'adaptation de la BD de Fabcaro au theatre

Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï Montforte Theatre, Paris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqUWZ2mz_1U

Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï Teaser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVtNkSAlDEI

Adèle is not in this clip, it is a season of a Théâtre de L'Argument production of the play that she was not in, but is really worth watching to get an idea of the energy of the play and the dynamics of the theatre troupe

Adèle’s role

Many characters!

Note of intent, Paul Moulin, Director

How not to succumb to the charm of Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï?

"At the first reading of this Fabcaro comic, we are struck by the devastating and absurd humour (not that much) of these 66 or so plates. This road trip prank is an opportunity for the author to tackle everyone: the police, teenagers, well-meaning artists, conspiracy theorists and, in a very good place: the media. In a state of emergency and ambient paranoia it is completely beneficial. The story is burlesque, with a very powerful political and social second reading. This separate work gives the sensation of looking at the world head-on, taking a side step so as not to get caught in the face. So it's totally gratifying. Fabcaro indirectly talks about tolerance and acceptance of the other. He denounces the security and cruel dysfunctions of our society or if we prefer "the bullshit". Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï is by far the most modern and original dramaturgy that we have read in the last 2 years. A great desire is imposed today, sweeping away everything in its path: to take hold of this singular work, to decline it, bring it to the stage and make it heard."

https://www.t-n-b.fr/media/tnb/186548-bible_zai-zai_8p.pdf

Notes

This is another brilliant production from Théâtre de L'Argument that I would love to see performed! This time Maïa Sandoz has adapted a comic book that is well known in France and her co-founder of Théâtre de L'Argument, Paul Moulin, directs the play. The eight actors are set up as if performing a radio play, with sound makers (á la a radio play) also on stage to be part of the madness. The reviews are universally very positive, and the photos and video clips indicate that an evening of craziness would have been enjoyed by all in the audience. Hopefully, they will keep this in their repertoire and I will be able to attend a performance (as soon as this damned virus allows me to travel—there is a total ban on international travel from my country [Australia] that will probably last for years, literally…).

Reviews

‘From Aymeric Demarigny to Adèle Haenel, from Emmanuel Noblet to Aurélie Verillon, from Maxime Coggio to Élisa Bourreau, from Christophe Danvin to Cyrille Labbé, everyone successfully meets the challenge. It must be said that the earthy substrate provided by Fabcaro helps them greatly. Little by little, the troupe lets itself be won over by the touch of madness that submerges this story at the crunchy starting point.’

https://sceneweb.fr/maia-sandoz-adapte-la-bd-de-paul-moulin-zai-zai-zai-zai-avec-adele-haenelde/

‘How not to succumb to the charm of Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï? At the first reading of this comic strip by Fabrice Caro, known as "Fabcaro", we are struck by the devastating and absurd humor of these 66 boards. In this road trip prank, Fabcaro indirectly speaks of tolerance and acceptance of the other. He denounces the security and cruel dysfunctions of our society.

Paul Moulin and his accomplices seize this singular work, to bring it to the stage and make it heard in the form of a radio fiction. This above all sound device works the imagination of the spectator by suggesting decorations, interiors, exteriors, car accidents or gospel choirs. And is inspired by the minimalist features of Fabcaro in which postures count more than faces and details.’

https://www.t-n-b.fr/programmation/spectacles/zai-zai-zai-zai

“Zaï zaï zaï zaï is an exercise in style and a game of massacre. (…) Nothing sour, however, nor tragic in this rendering, because the moralist advances masked. A talented dynamiter, Fabcaro knows how to balance social criticism and bursts of laughter, sharp decryptions and poetic discoveries. A real joy to read.”

Stéphane Jarno, Télérama

‘A radio fiction made at sight, with a noise maker and a sound boom, some microphones and around fifty characters embodied by eight (excellent) actors.’

Eve Beauvallet, Liberation

The comic strip "Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï" by Fabcaro on stage at the Pulp Festival 2018

‘The absurd farce of Fabcaro, critic of the consumer society and the functioning of the media comes to life at the Pulp Festival at La Ferme du Buisson in Noisiel. A caustic play performed by the company of the Argument Theater led by Paul Moulin and Maïa Sandoz with Blanche Gardin and Adèle Haenel.

Fabcaro's absurd and political comic strip, published in 2015 by Six pieds sous terre, crowned with several prizes, including the Grand Prix de la critique ACBD, became a play.

An effective minimalist staging

‘On the stage of La Ferme du Buisson Studio in Noisiel in the Paris suburbs at the Pulp Festival in 2018, a handful of actors are lined up. They are leaning in front of microphones, move little. To their left, noise makers. The staging, signed Paul Moulin (actor and director) is minimalist, as was Fabcaro's trait in the book. The piece looks like a radio fiction, but proof of the efficiency and the orality present in the comic, it works.’

Anne Douhaire, France Inter
https://www.franceinter.fr/theatre/la-bande-dessinee-zai-zai-zai-de-fabcaro-reussit-son-passage-sur-scene-au-pulp-festival-2018

“Upon arrival, there is a theatrical (or rather radio) adaptation, just as brilliant. Eight supercharged actors, installed in front of microphones, interpret the comic; only by sound. With their voice, they embody more than 80 characters and at the same time take care of the sound effects, using a multitude of objects (a computer keyboard, a plastic cup, a leek ...). This short show (50 minutes) takes Fabcaro's text to the letter and shows the extraordinary sense of rhythm of its author. The pleasure of seeing the actors, only focused on the sound, is also delicious (their faces are deformed, their bodies twist but their eyes remain fixed ...). You just have to close your eyes to realize the correctness of their performance. Delightful.”

https://www.lexpress.fr/culture/scene/sur-scene-zai-zai-zai-zai-cyrano-la-dama-boba_2059655.html

'Through a crazy radio adaptation, the Théâtre de L'Argument gives life to the hilarious text of the comic book author, Fabcaro.'

https://www.billetreduc.com/213769/evt.htm?nr=1

Again, Théâtre de L'Argument has events for community education

The commitment of this acting troupe to putting on politically relevant productions that always achieve rave reviews AND they engage with the public and, frequently, with students, is truly admirable. I'm a fan!