The work is first and foremost at the service of people, it remains a pretext for people to meet and have experiences: we mustn't exclude any part of the public.

Created in Brussels at the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles as part of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts and presented at the recent Avignon Festival, your documentary show La Vie secrète des vieux features seven non-professional performers over 75 years of age and explores love and desire in old age. How did this project come about?

This project was born after working in an Ehpad, where I had been able to have discussions and in particular an exchange with an old lady, who had told me about her love story. At the time, I'd had this bad artist's reflex, which made me focus on the loss of memory, autonomy and decay without questioning the present, the future and desire. This conversation touched me deeply, but it also made me a little uncomfortable, and I began to wonder about the question of love and sexuality among the elderly, and especially about the taboo it raises. That's how I came to meet senior citizens all over France and Belgium to talk about love and desire after 75.

You regularly collaborate with amateur performers. What are the reasons for this choice?

It's something that came about spontaneously and was imposed through encounters. My first piece was about my mother and, at the time, it didn't make sense to replace her. Then I did another play, Moi, Corinne Dadat, with a cleaning lady and again, I wanted people to meet her and not have her played by someone else. I wanted these experts in their lives to be on stage themselves to tell their story: I felt it was a democratic gesture to share the stage space so that we could see bodies and voices that we're not used to hearing and seeing on stage.

While in France, viewers are a little shy, in the sense that the question of the body is still taboo, in Latin America, there's an infectious joy right away.

You've just returned from a tour of several dates in Chile and Brazil, with the support of the IF Export program. How did the performances go, and what were the audience reactions?

While in France, audiences are a little shy, in the sense that the question of the body is still taboo, in Latin America, there's an infectious joy right away. People react a lot during the play, sometimes standing up or intervening, which creates a very free energy, a direct identification. At the end, the audience is on its feet, like in France, but it's happier abroad. In Chile and Brazil, there was something extremely warm and lively. For example, during a scene where Sali, one of the protagonists, is dancing, people got up to dance with her in Brazil. For me, this comes from the freedom of the relationship with the body, but also from a different apprehension of old age over there, where family solutions are invented to take care of the elderly.

What do you gainnt from these international collaborations? Does it nourish your work?

This show is Franco-Belgian, which already represents a foreignness of proximity: for example, in Belgium, we have the right to die with dignity, and the relationship to old age is completely different. As it happens, half the cast is Belgian, and this allows for a freedom of tone and speech that I didn't quite find in France. It's a cultural difference that can be found in Latin America and the Maghreb, and one that I also felt in Mexico in terms of the relationship with the body, old age and death. I've toured a lot internationally, notably with the French Institute, and I like to observe how, from one country to another, the piece echoes or fails to echo. About two or three years ago, I decided I wouldn't go abroad anymore for ecological reasons, but when I called my contact in Sao Paulo to tell him we weren't going to do the play there, I finally changed my mind. Although he respected my ecological considerations, he explained that cutting off international exchanges would mean isolating the country, depriving it of artistic, political and philosophical relations and exchanges, at a difficult time when the extreme right was in power. We therefore decided to maintain links with foreign countries in which we had already worked, such as Chile, Brazil and Argentina. I now try to keep this loyalty, maintain it and nurture it.

I've toured a lot internationally, notably with the French Institute, and I like to observe how, from one country to another, the piece echoes or doesn't.

Also with the support of IF Export, several dates are planned in the UK from June onwards. In particular, a "relax mode" will be offered to vulnerable, isolated and disabled audiences. What does this mean in concrete terms?

If you go to Brazil or Chile, you can see that "relax mode" is permanent: there's no need for special sessions, people can eat, talk, go out and come back. There, it's accepted, and we're not in the sacredness of the theater, a desire for absolute silence, which allows everyone to come, especially fragile audiences. Relax mode" arrangements can be an excellent way of reaching people who don't allow themselves to come because they're afraid of being disturbed, and even if it's a real gesture of inclusion, a wonderful step, it's essential to go all the way through the process. I'd like to see these schemes become more widespread; we need to go further and ensure that all screenings are open to all audiences. The work, as powerful as it is, is first and foremost at the service of people, it remains a pretext for people to meet and have experiences: we mustn't exclude part of the public from these shows.

Among your other news, you'll be presenting My Mother's Grand Palais in the Nave of the Grand Palais from June 13 to 29, 2025. What form will this retrospective of your work take, coinciding with the full reopening of the Grand Palais?

For me, it's a magnificent appointment because it's an opportunity to celebrate ten years of creation, at the invitation of the Centre Pompidou and the Grand Palais. It gives me the opportunity to do something that is reserved for visual artists, i.e. revisit the entire body of work of recent years. In concrete terms, I'll be able to present three exhibitions, performances and shows from the repertoire from the very first show to the present day, La Vie secrète des vieux. It's a chance to take over a heritage site and bring it to life.