ADISHATZ / ADIEU

When he was a teenager, not only was he a keen imitator, he also learnt and sang the great hits of the day, especially those of Madonna. This material, together with songs by Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Gala, Gloria Stefan or Francis Cabrel become the backbone of this show and his core form of expression.
An actor, puppeteer, ventriloquist, dancer and singer, Capdevielle is an artist with a highly unconventional talent who has been invited to perform at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Danae Festival in Milan, the Festival Avignon, L´Arsenic in Lausanne and L´Usine C. in Montreal, among other important venues. A regular collaborator of the director and choreographer Gisèle Vienne, he has performed in almost all her works. His voice skills turn him into a virtuoso capable of telling a story in a six-voice polyphony. In Adishatz /Adieu he creates a self-portrait using a combination of material including songs and imitations. Akin to a confessional documentary, this work of self-fiction places the emphasis on a person as they ramble through real life and fantasy. Singing a capella, full of rhythm and music, Capdevielle moves through the emotions until he reveals his own obsessions and feelings.  The work includes conversations by way of private notes that evoke the artist’s origins and his family life. In addition, a choir of male voices emerges singing traditional themes that accentuate the stereotypes of the south west of France, evoking Capdevielle´s origins, pop culture and club culture. Adishatz means “goodbye” in a dialect of the Pyrenees.
 “The ambivalent character I play swings between elegance and abruptness. Transvestism, common in men and women, lets me delve into the concept of loneliness, while I convey gentleness and sensitivity. It emanates a sense of rarity and anxiety, which alters and gives rise to different twists and turns”, says Capdevielle. With sadness and melancholy, but never tragedy, his artistic work explores the nostalgia of things and the crucial memory of one’s childhood or adolescent identity. “I want to rekindle memories and stimulate the public’s memory. The show confronts a cathartic dimension as the identity of the protagonist is gradually revealed, although it is probably never made evident”, he describes. Capdevielle comes across as ambivalent, complex, funny or sad, a man or a woman, powerful or fragile, somewhere between real life and fantasy.

Credits Idea and performing: Jonathan Capdevielle
Lighting: Patrick Riou
Stage manager: Christophe Le Bris
Sound manager: Johann Loiseau
Artistic collaboration: Gisèle Vienne
Artistic consultant: Mark Tompkins
Audio assistance: Peter Rehberg
Touring artistic assistant: Jonathan Drillet
Administration and touring: Fabrik Cassiopée – Isabelle Morel and Manon Crochemore
Thanks to: Aurélien Richard, Mathieu Grenier, Jean-Louis Badet, Barbara Watson and Henry Pillsbury
With the help of: DACM and the technical staff of Quartz, Scène Nationale de Brest
Executive production: Association Poppydog Bureau Cassiopee was the executive producer of Adishatz / Adieu until June 2016 
Production: Anne-Cécile Sibué-Birkeland
Hiring and administration: Léonor Baudoin and Manon Crochemore
Coproduction: Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon in the framework of domains (France), Centre Chorégraphique National de Franche-Comté à Belfort in the framework of their artistic residences (France) and BIT Teatergarasjen, Bergen (Norway)
With the support of: Centre National de la Danse de France during rehearsals. Poppydog is supported by DRAC Ile de France - Ministry of Culture and Communication
SPANISH PREMIÉRE