Arctique

We are in 2025. Tomorrow’s world has already begun. Global warming has transformed Greenland into the last Eldorado. The melting of the ice cap has unleashed its formidable reserves of uranium, fertile breeding grounds, gas and petrol, whipping up interested parties into a frenzy of excitement. On board the Arctic Serenity, a former cruise ship being pulled towards the island by a tug prior to its planned transformation into a deluxe hotel, a handful of clandestine passengers slips onboard in the hope on fleeing a war-ravaged Europe. The tug, however, abandons the Arctic Serenity in international waters. From now on, nothing goes to plan. Set to the sounds of a mysterious orchestra, the immigrants of the old world drift aimlessly across the sea... Arctique, like Tristesses (Anne-Cécile Vandalem’s preceding show, situated in an imaginary Denmark, presented at the Odéon during the 2016-2017 season) is both Nordic crime novel and political thriller. Theatre and video are expertly combined to counterpoint effect, exposing the multiple facets of a sinuous, maritime huis-clos, peopled by Lynch-like characters with two or even three distinct sides to them. In the course of the play, vengeances are taken, secrets brusquely unveiled, ghosts appear and alliances are overturned, all of which adds to the suspense, whilst opening up a wide range of perspectives at the same time.