A medical article from 1923 recounts the princeps case of the Capgras Syndrome. People suffering from this neuropsychiatric disorder are convinced that everyone around them has been replaced by doppelgängers. Apart from the obviously surreal element of misidentification that tickled his imagination, Peeters was particularly touched by the personal story behind the article. He was struck by the roles of class and gender that read between the lines, and by the violence and stigmatisation that are an intrinsic part of psychiatry’s history.
Peeters invited a diverse bunch of accomplices to imagine an audio-fiction, to be performed live on stage and in front of an audience. During a 2 week residency at Le Quartz in Brest, they developed the French version, a month later a German one, with a partly German cast in Schauspiel Leipzig.
Based on the original article, the fiction explores different perceptions of reality and questions the blurred and shifting boundary that separates those who call themselves "normal" from others.
The fiction was clearly conceived as a live stage work. However, under the guise of documentation, we also made a mix that you will be able to check here, sometime soon…
An audio fiction initiated by Diederik Peeters
French version created in the frame of the Longueur d’Ondes Festival, during a residency at Quartz, Brest from 25th of January until 8th of February 2024
German version created during a residency at Residenz, Schauspiel Leipzig (DE) from 4th until 16th of March 2024
Written by Grégoire Blanc, Marion Le Guerroué, Thibault Le Marec, François Pérache and Diederik Peeters
Texts by Dr. Capgras and Madame M. literally taken from the article “L’Illusion des « sosies » dans un délire systématisé chronique” by J. Capgras and J. Reboul-Lachaux, published in ‘Bulletin de la Société clinique de médecine mentale’ (Paris) in January 1923
French version performed by Grégoire Blanc, Marion Le Guerroué, Thibault Le Marec, François Pérache and Diederik Peeters
German version performed by Charlotte Puder, Sasha Hayes, Fritz Manhenke, Grégoire Blanc, Thibault Le Marec and Diederik Peeters
Imitations by Roch Baumert
Sound conception and sound production by Thibault Le Marec
Music and sound design by Grégoire Blanc
Piano by Julie Nguyen
Light design by Henri-Emmanuel Doublier
Textile design by Christophe Hefti
Artistic advice by Sabine Zovighian
Production management by Laëtitia Miranda-Neri
Administration by Elie Agniel, Kevin Deffrennes, Yulia Sakun
An associated production by SPIN and L’Amicale
Coproduced by Le Quartz, Scène nationale de Brest (F), Longueur d’Ondes, Brest (F), Schauspiel Leipzig (DE) and Perpodium
Supported by the Flemish Government and by Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest
Special thanks to Jeanne Besikian, Cromot, Jos Peeters, Mike Schmidt, Ineke Tavernier, Olivier Tirmarche and Lea Van Uytsel
Additional music: “Vocalise – Étude” by Olivier Messiaen
