A French theater company visited Rome's Teatro Manzoni not long ago. On stage was a production by L'Oiseau Mouche, a theater troupe from northern France. The cast numbered seven—all professional actors, all with intellectual disabilities, like the sixteen other members of this traveling company.
The curtain rises on darkness. The stage is black and grey. Characters lie sleeping here and there. A saxophone cuts through the silence with its sharp, haunting cry, lending the scene an odd, tense atmosphere. Slowly the figures stir awake. Time seems suspended. They appear lost. The Builder, the Restless One, the Peacemaker gradually break the silence. Then comes dialogue with the Brown One, the Silent One, the Sensitive One, and finally the Lost One. The audience begins to understand: their bus driver, who was taking them to Le Touquet, died suddenly.
They have taken shelter on this barren land. After resting from their shock—still deeply shaken—they begin to reflect on their unexpected plight, which unfolds into deeper questions about life itself. The Sensitive One is worn out by all that has happened, yet realizes that everyone has a Destiny. Some decide to leave, perhaps to seek help. Those who remain prefer to wait, convinced someone will come looking for them. "Doctors need the sick," one woman explains, "otherwise they have no work."
The performance begins with a written script, but improvisation soon takes over—especially in determining when each actor speaks. What emerges is the powerful, moving presence of the performers. A voice, barely audible at first, gradually grows stronger and fuller. We discover that the Lost One, initially reserved and shy, eventually finds full expression through his distinctive, rhythmic song.
L'Oiseau Mouche
To write the script, director Francesco Cervantes started with the actors themselves. He works with them, listens closely, explores—and gradually the production takes shape. It grows through continuous exchange with the ensemble. Some have been with the company for over a decade; others for less time. The troupe was founded more than twelve years ago and has performed under various directors, giving them a diverse repertoire.
They have traveled widely: England, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, the United States, Romania, and throughout France, where they won particular recognition at the Festival of Avignon.
The L'Oiseau Mouche company has twenty-three actors. They work constantly and explore far beyond theater—visual arts, movement, singing, music, video. One of the older actors once explained his feelings this way: "What troubles me is being seen as handicapped, when I am an actor." We can only affirm his truth: he and his colleagues were, first and foremost, actors when they performed at the Teatro Manzoni in Rome that evening.
Did the audience agree unanimously? Not entirely. "The action was too slow and the mood too dark," said young Aureliano, who found it hard to believe the performers had disabilities. "It is a message to us from those on stage," Natalia observed—the production had moved her deeply. Claudia expressed "admiration and wonder" and wished to see other works from this company, perhaps ones with less bleak visions. Both women were deeply affected by the questions the actors posed, by their challenges to the audience, by the range of their sensibilities.
- Marie-Claude Chivot, 1994