In 1983, after numerous racist incidents, a march left Marseille with around fifteen young French immigrants. As the cities passed through, the procession grew. The march ends in Paris with nearly 100,000 people. The play 1983 immerses the viewer in the 80s where racism is growing. Forty years later, the subject is still relevant.
“This show takes a detour to the past to talk about today” recognizes Margaux Eskenazi, director of 1983. The latest creation by the Compagnie Nova, from Seine-Saint-Denis, takes as its starting point the first great “Marche des beurs”, the name given by the media of the time. The show required more than two years of preparation. It is based on extensive historical research and surveys of walkers and their descendants. Sometimes bitter testimonies as to the still preponderant place of racism in France, in 2022. “There is still a pain, as if an appointment had been missed” explains the actress Loup Balthazar. “But, if it had been missed, we would not be paying tribute to them on stage and wanting to continue their fight” adds the young woman optimistically.
If the play1983 begins its tour in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, it is no coincidence. The idea of this March for equality and against racism was born in Vénissieux, in the suburbs of Lyon. In the summer of 1983, violent clashes opposed police and young people from the Minguettes district. During these scuffles, Toumi Djaïdja, then president of the SOS Avenir Minguettes association, was seriously injured by a police officer and hospitalized in emergency. Father Christian Delorme and Pastor Jean Costil of La Cimade then offered the young people of Minguettes a long walk. She left on October 15, 1983, in relative indifference, from Marseille where a 13-year-old child had just been the victim of a racist murder. With each city crossed, the procession grows. On December 3, the walkers arrive in Paris. It’s a triumph. Nearly 100,000 people marched through the capital. A delegation, with Toumi Djaïda, is received at the Elysée. François Mitterrand then promises a residence and work permit valid for ten years, a law against racist crimes and a project on the vote of foreigners in local elections. Two other marches will be organized in 1984 and 1985. .
“1983”, at the TNP in Villeurbanne, 8 place Lazare-Goujon, until November 20, 2022; on tour until March 29, 2023