The Alonetimes - Ep.1
"The fragmented stories of our solitudes"
Oriane Barloy
With The Alonetimes, Jennifer Walshe and Philip Venables bring their compositional voices together for the first time. Premiered at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris, this work of music theatre interweaves intimate narratives and experiences of solitude, revealing the fragility and complexity of our human connections.
Shaped by Jennifer Walshe and Philip Venables, The Alonetimes takes form through fragments and resists any immediate grasp. Made of fleeting memories and layered materials, the piece unfolds without a linear narrative, revealing itself only in flashes.
But its title says it all: moments of solitude. Which ones? Those experienced alone among others, in the face-to-face encounter with another – moments of awkwardness, diversion, desire, closeness, or distance. At the crossroads of contemporary music, theatre, and performance, the work draws a cartography of contemporary solitude, shaped by the ways technologies have transformed our forms of sociability. It brings forth a range of experiences and narratives in which everyone can, in one way or another, recognise themselves.
In residence at the Palais des Fêtes and then at the Théâtre de Hautepierre in Strasbourg, these two leading figures of today’s musical scene and their six performers gradually brought the piece to life on stage. We attended rehearsals, followed its earliest developments, and gathered the artists’ words.
This first episode outlines the main threads and themes, offering an immersion into the heterogeneous and vibrant musical world of The Alonetimes.
Directed and edited by Oriane Barloy
Translated in English by Carel Hamroune
A sound design by Jean-Philippe Gross
A production by Festival Musica, Strasbourg, France