This evening is conceived as a diptych exploring different facets of parenthood, between the intimate sphere and exposure to the outside world.
Presented together in a single evening, Before the Night and The Firebird question the fundamental role of parents: to protect, accompany, and transmit, while allowing children to grow and shape themselves. From the most intimate moments of daily life to confrontation with a hostile world, the diptych traces a trajectory in which parenthood becomes an act of vigilance, resistance, and emancipation.

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Before the night

Before the Night unfolds the bedtime routine, which becomes choreographic material.

Reality is transformed through movement and scenography, revealing the underlying stakes of education and family life.
The piece is rooted in the reality of a household composed of two parents and their ten children, portrayed by adult performers.
Within this domestic space, parents must be present—both physically and mentally. They occupy, channel, play, reassure, and set boundaries. They are the guardians of a fragile harmony, built through rules that soothe, structure, and enable the children’s personal development. The piece approaches parenthood as an active responsibility: creating a safe environment, transmitting values, and educating, while navigating the overflowing energy of this singular collective.

Firebird

The second part shifts into an abstract and symbolic world. Set to the music of Igor Stravinsky, the children become lost in a dark space governed by forces of control, uniformity, and negative thinking.
This journey,

embodied by the world of Kashchei, acts as a metaphor for the psychological risks children face today: peer pressure, social media, and political and social mechanisms that influence, confine, and shape them.
In this universe, designed by scenographer Yoko Seyama, the parents appear as safeguards. Through their actions and words, they become bulwarks against the harshness of the world, embodying the Firebird—capable of rescuing, illuminating, and freeing the children’s thoughts. The parental figures thus emerge as sources of light within this dark space, breaking the enclosure and restoring a living connection to reality.

Dates November 11, 2026
Time 8:00 PM
Duration 1 hour 15 minutes
Venue Kurtheater – Baden, Swiss

(c)Gregory Batardon