20:00 > 21:00
Album
Theater /
From July 14 to July 22
BREAK ON 17
Intra-Muros /
Le Café Vainqueur
Last Day
Marilyn Leray, Nicolas Lafourest
Last Day is a journey through the second part of William Faulkner’s novel The Sound and the Fury.
It tells the story of Quentin, one of the three Compson brothers, who is in love with his sister Caddy and cannot bear the thought of her being with another. He decides to end his life and spends his final day marked by the relentless ticking of his broken watch — a day where the color of the water appears gray, like the stones, and the scent of honeysuckle rises from the past, the saddest of all scents…
Faulkner’s writing lends itself perfectly to the instinctive, sharp-edged performance of Nicolas Lafourest — a precise approach that leaves room for ambiguity, that carries and clothes the text in such a way that it becomes something greater than a duo… something that lets us almost brush, with our fingertips, the Deep South — or at least what we imagine of it.
A story of time — time that is here, that will be, and that is already gone — so dear to William Faulkner.
Last Day is The Sound and the Fury, it is Faulkner’s writing — and that inevitably means speaking of time, death, and love, of the obsession with the past that comes to flood the present.
About the company - Le Café Vainqueur
Le Café Vainqueur is a company in which Marilyn Leray works as a director and actress. She approaches the stage through the adaptation of novels and literary texts. The question of adaptation lies at the heart of her work.
A sense of challenge often guides her choice of texts, but it is above all the writing itself that interests her: bringing the written word to the stage and shaping it so that it becomes spoken and tangible.
Her preferred themes explore the notion of individual freedom in relation to the power of the group — and thus, to social norms and conformity.
Marilyn Leray - Director and performer
After studying for a year at the Conservatoire of Dramatic Arts in Nantes, followed by training at the CRDC-Nantes (Centre for Research in Cultural Development), Marilyn Leray began her career as an actress. Since 1990, she has worked with several directors, including Christophe Rouxel, Gilles Blaise, and Johan Dehollander.
From the very beginning, she has remained loyal to Yvon Lapous, director and actor with Théâtre du Loup, performing in most of his productions, including Dirty Hands by Jean-Paul Sartre, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Alice's Journey in Switzerland by Lukas Bärfuss, and Impossible Encounters by Peter Asmussen.
Starting in 2000, she was invited to teach first-year students at the Nantes Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. In 2003, she met video artist Marc Tsypkine de Kerblay, and in 2005 they co-directed her first staging: Cooking with Elvis by Lee Hall. This collaboration continued through several productions, including A Boat for Dolls by Milena Markovic, The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents by Lukas Bärfuss, and an adaptation titled Saint Sauveur sur le sang versé, based on Category 3.1 by Lars Norén.
In 2012, discovering the novel Zone by Mathias Enard sparked in her a new desire to work differently — particularly to prioritize time: time for reflection, for maturation, for construction and rehearsal. Over several years, she worked intermittently on adapting this novel, which premiered in February 2017 at La Halle aux Grains, the national stage in Blois.
At the same time, she continued acting, notably performing a text by Annie Ernaux, Regarde les lumières, mon amour, directed by Marie-Laure Crochant (Company La Réciproque). She has also worked regularly in prisons and schools, particularly with high school students in theatre electives — always in connection with her own artistic work and concerns.
In 2018, she directed Avril, the first young-audience play by Sophie Merceron, and was an associate artist at La Halle aux Grains from 2019 to 2020. Her adaptation of Jack London’s novel Martin Eden premiered in November 2021 at Le Théâtre – National Stage of Saint-Nazaire.
Her latest project, Holden — based on a commissioned text by Guillaume Lavenant — is set to premiere in April 2024 at Le Canal – Théâtre du Pays de Redon.
Nicolas Lafourest - musician
A self-taught guitarist, Nicolas Lafourest is a musician with a distinctive, instinctive instrumental approach — raw, harsh, and impulsive in energy. His playing style is intimate and direct, with intentions shifting between sentimental atmospheres, experimental deconstructions, and broken, distorted refrains.
His music is built on repetitive, noise-infused, melodic patterns, constantly blending tension and fragility, softness and roughness.
Nicolas Lafourest currently performs in Coddiwomple (with G.W. Sok and O. Mellano), Choc Gazl (with Lila Fraysse), Granit Lip (with Marc Démereau), XibipÃÃo (with Betty Hovette), as well as in solo (Forêt), The And, Cannibales & Vahinés, and La Cachette (with the company Baro d’evel).
His solo album Faulkner Songs was released in February 2021 on the Mr Morezon label.
Distribution
performer : Marilyn Leray
guitare : Nicolas Lafourest
sound : Jérôme Teurtrie
Artistic outside eye : Tibor Ockenfels
Production
Production: Le Café Vainqueur
Coproduction: Pannonica – Jazz and Improvised Music Venue in Nantes
Support:
RING – Peripheral Stage in Toulouse
⸱ Théâtre Le Hangar, Toulouse
⸱ Libre Usine, Nantes
Le Café Vainqueur receives ongoing support from the DRAC Pays de la Loire, the Department of Pays de la Loire, and the City of Nantes.
14:50 > 15:55
From July 06 to 22
even-numbered days
Break on 10
From 14 years old
Full price: €20
Off rate: €14
Pro price: €10