This show pays tribute to the thousands of forcibly displaced children of Reunion

We should have waited over sixty years so that this tragic and scandalous episode is made visible on the boards of a theater…

The memory of a French scandal

Well known in Reunion, the story of the “Children of the Creuse” it’s a blank page of French history.

Since the 60s, thousands of Reunionse children I was torn from their families to be forcibly sent to metropolitan France, under the authority of Michel Debré and with the help of the DDAS (Departmental Directorates of Health and Social Affairs). The official objective of this operation was to repopulate the countryside, then marked by the rural exodus. But these children were often convicted forced labor and, for some, never found their home island.

The V.1 collective pays tribute to the victims of this forced displacement telling their story in the show All our skies.

A piece in Creole inspired by true events

Behind the writing and design of the piece lies an author of Reunionese origin, Jessica Ramassamy. She built her own story by meeting people who experienced this forced exile when they were orphans or not. The piece gives pride of place to the creole language. A coherent choice in the context of a case that shocked the identity of displaced children.

The show is embodied by three actresses and traces the true story of Valérie Andanson, a child deported at the age of three. We follow her career up to the age of 40, passing through her stay on the Creuse in the house of Guéret, where most of the children of Réunion were placed before being dispersed in metropolitan France.

All our skies will perform at the Odéon theatre in Nimes They November 22nd and 23rd 2022, then at the meeting.

Featured Image Credit: Monica Selvestre/Pexels