“This research-creation project represents an initial experimental attempt to breathe new life into Barbe, openly acknowledging the need to update the medieval plays on three levels: linguistic, dramaturgical and performative. The plays are written in verse in an archaic language that is inaccessible to a non-expert audience without mediation; the mysteries have a very particular structure, which is far from conventional and must be adapted to a contemporary format; for there to be a genuine emotional and intellectual connection with today’s audience, the use of contemporary aesthetic codes of staging is necessary.
The realisation of this project has enabled the creation of a new dramaturgy, staged before an audience, after having been tested during sessions of knowledge-sharing between the participating artists and attendees. It is both a performative revival of the medieval mysteries of Saint Barbara and a new, autonomous creative endeavour. The work fosters an active encounter between the academic world and the creative sector, with the conviction that the arts can bring concrete and real benefits to the development of a fairer society.”

Our thanks to Mario Longtin for allowing us to use the unpublished transcription of the mystery prior to the publication of the current edition by Mario Longtin, Jacques Lemaire and Léon Brun.

Susanna Scavello