Site de Carcassonne / Theatre - faculte education montpellier

Theatrical performance

by Compagnie de la Dame

on the Carcassonne site

Marguerite's kitchen

As part of the FEAGAA project (Formation et Éducation aux Arts du Goût: l'alimentation et les arts), some fifty students were treated to a performance by Corinne Mariotto of texts from two works by Marguerite Duras: La cuisine de Marguerite and La vie Matérielle.

As she peels the vegetables and simmers the soup, the actress brings to life these texts about women in the kitchen and in the home. The soup cooks quietly, and when the curtain falls, everyone can taste it. A wonderful literary and tasty experience, followed by a chat with the actress.

The FEAGAA project aims to raise awareness among future teachers and cultural mediators of the issues surrounding food and taste, through an educational and artistic approach. It combines arts, culture and pedagogy to enrich students' personal culture, notably by discovering the diversity of food cultures and promoting interaction with artists and cultural venues. The program is made up of a number of initiatives designed to raise awareness of the food challenge and its implications, through encounters with visual and performing artists.

For the Carcassonne site, this project revolves around the "Journée des Arts du Goût". For the year 2024-2025, the theater company "La compagnie de la Dame" presented La cuisine de Marguerite, a show inspired by texts by Marguerite Duras. It features the intimacy of a kitchen in which a woman prepares soup while sharing memories and reflections. This format engages the audience in an immersive and sensitive experience around the themes of food and cultural transmission.

During this first semester of work on these subjects, the students developed a critical reflection on the heritage and educational dimensions of food and its preparation. They also designed educational activities on these themes for primary school pupils. The show, which favors an active, interdisciplinary approach to teaching, featured readings of excerpts from Marguerite Duras's work, and explored how the author combines culinary art and literature.