Scènes contemporaines et biopolitique. Representer le grand age en institution
Contemporary Scenes and Biopolitics. Representing Old Age in Institutions

Summary/Abstract: In recent years, more and more shows in Europe have focused on end-of-life, particularly end-of-life in institutions (retirement homes, emergency shelters, hospitals, etc.). For example, the shows by British director Alexander Zeldin, Love, A Death in the Family, presented in 2018 and 2021 at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris, The Lear Syndrome by Elsa Granat, created in January 2022 at the Théâtre Gérard Philippe in Saint-Denis, and Together! by Groupe T, presented in April 2022 at the Théâtre de la Commune in Aubervilliers. These shows, by opening the walls of the institution to allow spectators to observe a moment in the life of their residents, put them in the position of panoptic controllers. Thus, they sharply raise the question of the relationship between the aging body and power on contemporary stages. By representing institutions that are the last vestiges of the disciplinary society described by Foucault, they each in their own way offer a critique of these organizations that impose rigid control over the lives of their residents, where life, simply managed while waiting for an imminent death, becomes unlivable.

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