Rectum Crocodile
In the heart of a colonial plantation, living and dead creatures parade by and cross paths, guided by the mischievous and enigmatic voice of a child. Straight out of the carnivale-like imagination of the Caribbean, various figures face us while reciting poems and incantations. Rectum Crocodile is a magical tale, a political and danced fable that seeks to exorcise the ghosts of white supremacy in the 'New World'.
Marvin M'Toumo is both director and designer and here offers us a profound and feverish creation in which gestures mingle with words and the two merge into dance. The carefully designed costumes add to the wondrous dimension. Just as its creator, the piece sits at the intersection of several arts such as dance, performance, theatre and poetry. It draws on both on the European world of stage and the Caribbean fantasy worlds, both having history as a common thread. Amidst a lush plantation, nature and people question slavery, colonialism and all forms of domination. This dance poem is a polyphony of intersecting voices and bodies that is a both radiant and dazzling pamphlet against discrimination and oppression.
Rectum Crocodile, produced in collaboration with Théâtre Varia, is both a roar and a manifesto. Dazzling and bold in its grandeur, the play evokes the colonial past and calls it to account. It underlines the importance of continuing to dig collectively into this shared heritage.
• Marvin M'toumo is an artist whose unique poetry transcends academic distinctions between art, theatre, literature and fashion. He expresses his sensitivity in the fluidity of a practice without compartments and where he makes identities, stereotypes and archetypes the centre of a critical poetics full of symbols, humour and dramaturgy. He graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure de la Villa Arson in Nice in 2016 and the Haute Ecole d'Arts et de Design (HEAD) in Geneva in 2019. Rectum Crocodile is his second theatrical creation after Concours de larmes (2022), which he wrote, directed, performed and for which he designed the set and costumes. In fashion, he has worked with Chanel's Lognon atelier and the house of Jean Paul Gaultier.
direction, writing, set design and costumes Marvin M’toumo ⎸ stage writing and performance Davide-Christelle Sanvee, Élie Autin, Grace Seri, Amy Mbengue, Djamila Imani Mavuela and Marvin M’toumo ⎸ music Vica Pacheco and Baptiste Le Chapelain ⎸ light design Alessandra Domingues ⎸ make-up Chaïm Vischel ⎸ junior costume designer Marie Schaller ⎸ costume assistants Rosena Despicht and Lou Suschel ⎸ stage design Angelo Bergomi ⎸ diversity, equity and inclusion consultant and mediator Prisca Ratovonasy ⎸ English translation Sarah Jane Moloney ⎸ administration and production Anna Ladeira - Le Voisin ⎸ coproduction Emergentia – temps fort pour la création chorégraphique émergente réalisé par L’Abri, le TU et le Pavillon ADC Genève, Arsenic – Centre d’art scénique contemporain Lausanne, PREMIO - Prix d’encouragement pour les arts de la scène ⎸ residency Pavillon ADC Genève, Tanzhaus Zürich, Gessnerallee Zürich
