Innocentes

A victim of incest during her childhood, Léonie Rafaël lived for a long time with traumatic amnesia. From the words she entrusted to Sandrine Chauveau came Innocentes, a theater and poetry performance giving voice to what had long been silenced.

Innocentes Based on the writings of Léonie Rafaël Adapted and performed by Sandrine Chauveau Directed by Victor Haïm Innocentes addresses a subject that remains deeply taboo: incest and the silence surrounding it. A victim of incest during her childhood, Léonie Rafaël lived for many years with traumatic amnesia. When the memories return, she needs time to reconstruct her story and find her way to words. From this process of reconstruction comes writing that is simple, direct, and poetic, able to speak of a terrible reality without giving up on beauty and life. Léonie Rafaël entrusts her texts to Sandrine Chauveau, hoping that this voice, silenced for so long, can be heard and shared. This transmission gave rise to Innocentes. The title is plural. Over the course of her work, Sandrine Chauveau has met many victims. Through one individual story, other stories resonate too, making visible what so often remains hidden behind appearances. Together with Victor Haïm, playwright and director, Sandrine Chauveau turns this testimony into a fully realized theatrical work, where staging, poetry, and music give the words an artistic form without obscuring their reality. A performance that invites us to look at what remains hidden, hear a voice silenced for so long, and let silence make room for listening.