Freda

Mariama, a young actress of Reunion and Comorian origin, plays Joséphine Baker in a supposedly anti-racist show.

One evening during a performance, unable to stand it any longer, Mariama escapes from the theater. She looks back on moments of her intimate life, from her childhood to her profession, but also on Joséphine Baker's career, on her embodiment of colonial fantasy on stage, on her attempt to exist in an era when racist universal exhibitions were filling up.

In a powerful one-woman show, actress Kaïnana Ramadani untangles this story between France, the Indian Ocean and the USA, between segregation and exoticizing stereotypes.

This creation, co-written with director Azani V. Ebengou, cleverly articulates autofiction and historical research. Blending Creole and French, the play explores all the issues at stake in a complex and painful heritage. It also suggests, with dignity and delicacy, a path of emancipation for today's young artists.