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Svante Pääbo – laureate of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Medicine – embarked in the 1990s on a daring quest: to decipher Neanderthal DNA and compare it with that of modern humans. His discoveries speak to us about our place in the world.
In Neandertal, scientists attempt to rewrite the history of human origins by deciphering fragments of ancient DNA. Life and research intertwine, collide, and influence each other, while their findings, brought out of the solitude of laboratories, dismantle any notion of racial or ethnic purity.

An atypical approach to an ingenious idea at the end of which is a profound meditation on human nature.

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Scenography: Lisa Navarro
Collaborator: Margaux Nessi
Light: Jérémie Papin
Collaborator: Rosemonde Arrambourg
Video: Jérémie Scheidler
Interaction and video designer: Jérémie Gaston-Raoul
Sound: Loïc Le Roux
Collaborator: Orane Duclos
Original soundtrack: Jérémie Arcache
Costume: Benjamin Moreau
Collaborator: Florence Demingeon
Assistant directors: Aurélien Hamard-Padis, Jade Maignan
Dramaturgy: Quentin Rioual
Artistic advice: Juliette Navis
General stage management: Nicolas Hénault
Stage management: Kayla Krog
English surtitles: Jennifer Gay
Surtitles: Victoria Mariani

On tour:
General stage management: Sylvain Tardy
Stage management: Nicolas Hénault
Lighting: Rosemonde Arrambourg
Video: Julien Reis
Sound: Orane Duclos
Dresser: Arlette Ricard
General and tour management: Noura Sairour
Production management: Laëtitia Fabaron
Press relations: AlterMachine, Carole Willemot

Scientific advisors:
Évelyne Heyer & Sophie Lafosse (eco-anthropolog, Musée de l'Homme), Cyrille Le Forestier (archaeo-anthropology, INRAP), Julie Birgel (CAGT)

Freely inspired by:
Néandertal, à la recherche des génomes perdus de Svante Pääbo, Les liens qui libèrent, 2015
Rosalind Franklin, la Dark lady de l’ADN de Brenda Maddox, Des femmes-Antoinette Fouque, 2012
Les fossoyeuses de Taina Tervonen, Marchialy, 2021
Production: Compagnie Lieux-Dits

Co-produced by:
Théâtre Dijon Bourgogne - Centre dramatique national, Théâtre de Lorient - Centre dramatique national, Comédie - Centre dramatique national de Reims, Théâtre Gérard Philipe - Centre dramatique national de Saint-Denis, Théâtre-Sénart - Scène nationale, ThéâtredelaCité - CDN Toulouse Occitanie, Comédie de Genève, MAIF Social Club, Festival d'Avignon, Le Canal - Théâtre du pays de Redon - Scène conventionnée d'intérêt national art et création pour le théâtre, Théâtre d'Arles, Malakoff Scène nationale, MC93 Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis à Bobigny, Le Gallia Théâtre - Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national art et création de Saintes, Théâtre de Choisy-le-Roi - Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national art et création pour la diversité linguistique

With the support of: DGCA - Ministère de la Culture, la vie brève - Théâtre de l’Aquarium (Paris), CNDC - Théâtre Ouvert

 Funded by: Région Île-de-France and Département du Val-de-Marne

Compagnie Lieux-Dits is accredited by the Ministère de la Culture - DRAC île-de-France and the Departement du Val-de-Marne as part of its development aid.
 
Cast: David Geselson, Adeline Guillot, Jan Hammenecker, Laure Mathis, Elios Noël, Olga Abolina și Valentin Mussou (cello), Marine Dillard (drawings)

The hosting of this performance was made possible thanks to PROSPERO NEW Platform co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

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