Générations F

“Representatives of the tribes of tomorrow have gathered in a square to dialogue with current generations. They are children and teenagers from different possible futures, each displaying signs of their new way of life in relation to the environment in which they live. Each tribe is different, bringing its own questions, offerings, thoughts and actions. To welcome them, the audience of the town where they arrive is brought together in an agora where words and emotions circulate in an authentic and democratic relationship between human beings of all ages.” (translated from french)

Générations F in a nutshell

Générations F is a collaborative fictional and theatrical creation project involving 10 young people (aged between 10 and 18) from the same neighborhood or territory, embodying a generation of the future.

The creation of their universe takes place over the course of a week, during which they take part in a series of workshops, accompanied by a stage director (Zelda Soussan) and a choreographer (Rodrigo Vilarinho), as well as a costume designer, a sound designer, a set designer and a legal expert (called in to help the children develop certain technical aspects of their story).

Their generation lives 200 years into the future, in climatic conditions determined by a climatologist’s estimates, with specific flora and fauna. The state of the earth’s ecosystems is the starting point for their imagination.

After 5 days, a theatrical performance in front of an audience stages the meeting between the future generation, revealing its functioning, and the present. An exhibition of notes and design drawings also showcases the work carried out during the week.

The project’s genesis

The first intention of the project emerged when Zelda Soussan listened to the video of a class given by the jurist Isabelle Michallet : by Cité anthropocène (in french, automatic translation available). The lecture was about the legal possibilities and issues concerning the rights of the future generations. These rights exist in different countries but in France it is a concept really hard to grasp and handle.

This is where Zelda identified an opportunity for theater, whose role is to give a voice to the “the great absentees”. She wanted to develop a protocol to enable youngsters, which are or will be the future generations, to play and embody this concept.

“Theater creates this projection and gives a framework of belief in this created future generation.” Zelda Soussan (translated from french)

Apart from the global, or at least national challenge, regarding the representation of future generations, the theatrical device tackles concrete political issues. The youngsters all come from the same territory and the synopsis is entangled in the local context. Consequently, the debates occurring during the final performance are real and showcase people’s concerns (for the youth and the public).

Young people at the center of the artistic project

Générations F, as an artistic protocol with youngsters, wants to give the place and enable young people to express themselves in the public space. The project also defends the creative right to imagine possible futures.

Hence, Zelda Soussan and the team of the LUIT, Laboratoire urbain d’interventions temporaires (or urban laboratory for temporary interventions), have the core intention to infiltrate reality and the political and mediatic spheres of the territory. For example, in Nancy, the children involved in the protocol were already invested in the metropolitan youth council. And they took the experience further by bringing the performance to the political representative of the city council.

“After a while, maybe, some people will say, yes, we’re going to listen to the children, we’re going to integrate them more into the current system.” Marcel, Poukoïs tribe (translated from french)

Nonetheless, behind these great responsibilities, children are still children and the protocol needs special accommodations compared to a collaborative creation with adults.

First of all, children need a lot of breaks in between working sessions. These times are also great for them to get to know each other. The space of discussion between youngsters is really valuable and the relationships created are one of the main take-away points for the participants.

Another great adaptation is to transform some sessions into games. It is also really important, according to Zelda, to alternate manual, cerebral and physical exercises.

Finally, in order to break with the school system, it was really important for Zelda to get the youngsters to learn self-management skills. For them to handle the distribution of speaking times during the week, they, for example, had a cuddly toy of speech.

A tribe led by children

Since the representatives of the tribe visiting the humans of 2025 are children, the youngsters participating in the performance have to find a reason why they have been appointed as representative. It influences the writing of the story where children have most of the time an important place in the instances of their community.

They participate in the governance, can work earlier and have important jobs and can even lead revolutions.

“They have more imagination than adults, they’re smarter, they have more dreams.” A member of the Fénicy tribe (translated from french)

Another important element coming out of these creations is the relationship with nature. For example, in Nancy, the Fénicy had several important connections with animals. They collaborated with storks (a local and emblematic animal) for shipping goods. They even invented a language to communicate with them called pointillism, taking the shape of a collaborative dance. They had pet bunnies. But they were also hunters of wild hares, overcrowding the region.

The relationship with plants was the focus of another tribe, in a different city: “I’m in a tribe called the Mogonis. It’s 2123 and we’re making things that we stick on our faces so we can talk in Morse code with plants.” (translated from french)