Co-author and actor of the successful play “Family Dinner” programmed last year, Joseph Gallet returns with his new comedy “My Golden Family” on Wednesday January 29 at the Palais des Congrès in Perpignan, in the Boitaclous season.
What is the pitch of this new comedy?
A dysfunctional family learns that they have received an inheritance from a stranger. The only condition is that the four members (father, mother, brother and sister) must be present in one month before the notary to sign the papers and recover the money. Problem: the sister is angry with everyone. She went around the world and no one knows where she is. They will try to find her according to the clues she has strewn along her path.
A road trip is not that common in the theater. Where did you draw inspiration from?
I really like the movie Little Miss Sunshine. Even if the story has nothing to do with it, I have wanted for years to write a play that goes through the same structure: the journey of a family who, for a reason beyond their control, finds themselves in having to travel around the world to, in fact, solve their problems.
Concretely, how do you tour the world in 1 hour 20 minutes, on a stage?
I co-signed this piece with Élodie Wallace. From the start, we ruled out questions of scenography, so as not to find ourselves limited in the writing. It’s up to director Anne Bouvier to find solutions. And she found it! The play begins in the kitchen which will, through a whole bunch of tricks, become all the places in the world that the characters will cross. But the idea was above all to say: wherever we go, we go with who we are.
If there is a recurring theme in theater, and whatever the register, it is that of the dysfunctional family. What do you like to explore?
When I wrote Family dinnerten years ago, I approached this subject for the first time. It opened so many doors, situations, potential! For us authors, but also for the spectators, the family is the place of all happiness and all drama. It is an inexhaustible breeding ground. I’m actually writing my next comedy on the theme of… in-laws!
You regularly collaborate with the same authors and actors. For you, creating a piece is a family affair… artistic?
200%! If we want to make something as interesting and successful as possible, it remains teamwork, I am convinced. I am an author, actor and producer. It’s a twenty-year journey made up of layers of encounters. I create with people I really love. All the time. And with each project, the family grows. Thus, Marie-Hélène Lentini (editor’s note: actress from Perpignan) who joined us on Family dinner plays my mother in My golden family.
A memory of your visit to Perpignan last year, in “Family Dinner”?
It was at the convention center, one of the biggest venues we’ve performed in so far. For us, it was super impressive. The emotion of Marie-Hélène, who had not played “at home” since her debut, reflected on all of us. The atmosphere was magnificent, and the audience here is exceptional.
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