Blending physical performance with instinctive creation, Joëlle Fontannaz builds an unlikely home in the Orangerie garden. With courage and ingenuity, using whatever she has on hand, she explores the risks but also the pleasure that can come from not planning our actions in advance.

This figure of a disheveled queen seems determined to build something without knowing the plan. She moves impulsively from one thing to another, with no apparent logic; she gets carried away, becomes excited, and is also stubborn. It might bring to mind a spiderweb whose threads aren’t woven together but are joyfully scattered haphazardly. And, little by little, almost unnoticed, something takes shape before our eyes. We wonder if it will all hold together, if it will all come crashing down… or if, through a doubtfully controlled miracle, it will turn out to be a stroke of genius. The objects come together as if they had decided on their own to cooperate (or to resist, depending on their mood). And in the midst of this organized chaos, a realization dawns: perhaps not knowing where we’re going is still the best way to get somewhere.

This is the winning project of the TO! competition, dedicated to creating works for young audiences.

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Direction and performance: Joëlle Fontannaz
Concept, set design, and costumes: Sarah André, Joëlle Fontannaz, and Thérèse Weibel
Dramaturgical consultant: Anne-Laure Sahy
Artistic consultant: Barbara Schlittler
Stage management and ushering (on rotation): Anne-Laure Sahy, Barbara Schlittler, and Thérèse Weibel
Sound design: Marcin de Morsier
Intern: Révane Pajand
Administration: Michael Scheuplein & Barbara Schlittler
Co-production: TO!-Théâtre de L’Orangerie
Production: Le Laboratoire de Madame Z
Supported by: La Loterie Romande, a private Geneva-based foundation, Ernst Göhner Stiftung
Special thanks to: Lieu Commun, Liv Jenkins & Marie-Eve Hildbrand