photo de Fonds de dotation Francis Kurkdjian Collectif MxM
Photo credit: Michel Labelle

The project

La Mouette of Tchekhov by the Collectif MxM

This dramatic comedy of manners with a tragic ending tells the story of Nina, a young woman who aspires to become an actress, and the man who loves her, Konstantin, who tries his hand at writing.

Cyril Teste, at the helm of the Collectif MxM, explores a third hypothesis, taking up the myth of Oedipus: what if Konstantin was in love with his mother Arkadina, a woman of great beauty, with whom he has always lived, without a father. And what if the relationship with Nina - who dreams of becoming the actress that Arkadina is - could be seen as a form of transference, or the means to live while circumventing the taboo? The primary objective of this adaptation of La Mouette is to explore the son/mother relationship.

The Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund is pleased to have supported the Collectif MxM's research for this creation, which mobilized 8 actors on stage and 30 people off stage, for nearly 90 performances throughout France until 2022.

Photo credit: Simon Gosselin

From left to right: Mehdi Toutain-Lopez, videographer; Julien Boizard, light designer, technical director and co-founder; Cyril Teste, director, artistic director and co-founder; Nihil Bordures, composer and co-founder; Anaïs Cartier, administrative director.

photo de Fonds de dotation Francis Kurkdjian Cyril Teste Collectif MxM
Photo credit: Michel Labelle
Cyril Teste
photo de Fonds de dotation Francis Kurkdjian Cyril Teste Collectif MxM
Cyril Teste

Founded in 2000, the Collectif MxM is a flexible core of artists and technicians, united by the same desire to research, create and transmit together, to question the individual simultaneously as a spectator of reality, representation and fiction. A collective writing that Cyril Teste projects and coordinates in common grammar. To date, the Collective has created about thirty works, film performances, sound pieces, installations, clips and is developing the nomadic laboratory of scenic arts, a transdisciplinary transmission network.

photo de Fonds de dotation Francis Kurkdjian Collectif MxM
Photo credit: Simon Gosselin
photo de Fonds de dotation Francis Kurkdjian Collectif MxM
Photo credit: Simon Gosselin
photo de Fonds de dotation Francis Kurkdjian Collectif MxM
Photo credit: Simon Gosselin
photo de Fonds de dotation Francis Kurkdjian Collectif MxM
Photo credit: Simon Gosselin