François Lavallée - Le ruisseau

Target audience : 12 years and up

"I've got a long way to go", ten-year-old François told his two younger brothers, to let them know that he needed to go off on his own to discover the possibilities that awaited him around the bend... It was the discovery of the stream, flowing just a few steps from his home, that changed the order of the world in his head and in his heart.

The trials that await the young boy, as wonderful as they are difficult, real or imagined, push him towards an unspeakable emancipation. The boundaries between childhood (running, singing, kissing, sailing, building, loving, fantasising) and maturity (dying, losing, fearing, giving up, hoping) are blurred, then disappear, blown by gentle and harsh winds. "Living is a tough business, even for cowboys," concludes Dwayne, one of the many astonishing characters in Le ruisseau.

Le Ruisseau, which is intended to be seen by an intergenerational audience, is aimed at children and parents alike, and tackles the issue of grief head-on, as all ages face its pain.

François Lavallée is a contemporary nomad, author, storyteller, lecturer and trainer since 1996. His work has taken him along asphalt and gravel roads to the four corners of Quebec and Canada, and more than 90 times to France, Switzerland and Belgium, to the white desert of Nunavik and that of the Tuaregs of Niger, to the indigenous people of the volcanoes of Ecuador, to Reunion Island, Romania, Djibouti and the suburbs of Paris. He represented Canada and won the gold medal in the "Contes et conteurs" competition at the Ves Jeux de la francophonie (2005) in Niamey, Niger, with the story "Le recycleur de talents", and in autumn 2017 received the PRIX JOCELYN BÉRUBÉ awarded by the Festival de contes et récits de Trois-Pistoles.

This show is supported by Circuit Paroles Vivantes.