The history of L'Oiseau Mouche (“hummingbird”) began more than forty years ago and has ever since involved a team of around 55 people, including 23 actors and actresses with a learning disability. The company’s work has resulted in more than 50 productions staged more than 1700 times in France and internationally. L'Oiseau Mouche also involves two restaurants with 18 cooks and waiters with a learning disability. The theatre company was born in 1978 and became professional three years later, creating the first French artistic work facility for people with disabilities. Initially, the group explored just mime theatre, using spoken language sparingly until 1987, when the dramatic text was incorporated with the staging of Rapt by Philippe Vaernewich and Dramaticules by Beckett, directed by Stéphane Verrue. In 1995, the cooperation with Antonio Vigano began, resulting in three productions, among them Personnages. The play follows Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, resulting in the group’s second most staged play (146 tens) and obtaining the Italian Stregagatto Award for “Best Play for Youths.” In the early 2000s, text became a vital element in the company’s work, resulting in the productions of Phèdre by Jean Racine and King Lear by William Shakespeare, staged by Sylvie Reteuna. During this time, the group settles in Roubaix, close to Lille (France). Among the following productions are The Mother by Berthold Brecht (director: François Delrue), L’Enfant de la Jungle after Rudyard Kipling’s famous novel, resulting in the company’s most staged play (154 times in six years), and The Odyssey by Homer, both directed by Christophe Bihel. A long-term collaboration with Christophe Piret was established in 2009 when L'Oiseau Mouche was incorporated in the fifth episode of In My House. In October 2011, the company began working with Cédric Orain to stage Sortir Du Corps (“Leave the Body”), exploring the singular language of author Valère Novarina. In January 2013 Christian Rizzo choreographs his 39th play, De quoi tenir jusqu’à l’ombre (premiere: 24.01.2014). The same year, L'Oiseau Mouche was officially contracted by the French Ministry of Culture and Communications, and in 2014, in collaboration with Florence Lavaud, the play The Steadfast Tin Soldier (premiere: 20.01.2014) was produced for youths, freely adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s tale. The year 2018 is an important year for the company: among the celebration of their fortieth anniversary are the productions of Par la fenêtre (“Through the window”) by Aude Denis and Madisoning by Amélie Poirier. In 2019, the output of the company’s 50th play – Les Diables (“The Devils”) by Michel Schweizer – is celebrated. During the forty years since its creation, the company overpassed its initial goals: what seemed impossible to its pioneers of the 1970s has become the day-to-day business for this generation’s actors in L'Oiseau Mouche.
At the beginning of 2020, Léonor Baudouin became director of the company, pursuing the aim of enforcing the rootedness of the company in the realm of performing arts. The pandemic put an end to the multiple current projects, significantly influencing the staging of the shows. The 2020-2021 season is nonetheless slated to be an exceptional time: L'Oiseau Mouche creates its next play, Vouger les lignes-histoires de cartes (director: Bérangère Vantusso), at the Festival d’Avignon. The piece will be shown at the opening of the 2021 Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in Charlevilles-Mézière, guaranteeing a strong visibility of the company. The company has also been in constant collaboration with Boris Charmatz centring around three projects which will be presented at the 2021 Festival d’Automne in Paris. Creation and Artistic Research The dynamic of their artistic creations is fundamental for the company and based on four core values: the encounter of the actors and the artists, companionship, the discovery of aesthetic pluralism, and the appreciation of long-term artistic partnerships; the act of choosing their collaborations is, therefore a special process. This is also why the company does not have a designated stage director. Artists from different disciplines are invited to cultivate aesthetic plurality, setting off a profoundly intimate selection process. Since 2008, the company has also developed another production axis, the Petites Formes (“Small Forms”), moving away from the stricter definition of “traditional” theatre. This possibility multiplies the productions and the opportunities for the actors to be cast. It also enables the company to reach out to audiences that do not go to the theatre usually. While attaining the artistic standards of the company, these Petites Formes are easier in the technical setting and can, therefore, be performed anywhere. The initiative benefits from the official support of the network forming the Métropole Européene de Lille.
L'Oiseau Mouche also values external projects involving their actors who benefit from the supplementary experience, which is then transmitted to the rest of the company. For the same reason, L'Oiseau Mouche often engages in co-productions, pairing financial and administrative engagement with the actors’ integration. Said interconnectedness deepens inter-artistic ties and opens perspectives on new potential partnerships. Training The training process lies at the heart of L'Oiseau Mouche and is often inseparable from the company’s creation process: artists are invited to give workshops to the group’s actors, which is incidentally where the journey of future projects has often begun. These workshops are also the meeting point for long-term-employed actors and newcomers. The training program is centred around three elements: dancing, object theatre, and hybrid forms of music. Plastic and visual arts blend in theatre in a transdisciplinary manner.