Conférence de choses

A man, a table, cheerful verbosity. A Wikipedia-style ramble through the fields of knowledge. Both professor and storyteller, the virtuoso actor Pierre Mifsud flits from one idea to the next, hopping from one link to another as he leads an amazed audience through the twists and turns of his mind. A delightful plunge into insatiable human curiosity.

From Descartes to Annie Hall by way of the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games, no subject is overlooked in this Conférence de choses, a hodgepodge of quirky references strangely interconnected by the peculiar laws of the hyperlink. Whether presented in six lectures of 53 minutes and 33 seconds (each given in Montreal venues of higher learning) or in the marathon six-hour version, these are invigorating and idiosyncratic thought experiments that unabashedly combine scholarly learning with pop culture. An ode to the democratization of knowledge. Reason enough to set heads spinning.

Produced by 2b company
Performed by Pierre Mifsud
Concept François Gremaud
Written by François Gremaud + Pierre Mifsud
Production and distribution Michaël Monney  

Co-produced Arsenic (Lausanne) + Centre Culturel Suisse (Paris)
With the contribution of far° Festival des arts vivants (Nyon)
With the support of Pro Helvetia – Fondation suisse pour la culture (Zurich) + CORODIS (Lausanne) + Loterie Romande (Lausanne) + Fondation Leenaards (Lausanne) + Fondation suisse des artistes interprètes (Zurich) + Fonds culturel de la Société Suisse des Auteurs (Lausanne) + Ville de Lausanne

Written by Philippe Couture
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Premiered at far° festival des arts vivants, Nyon, from August 8 to 13, 2013