A companion piece to Théâtre Volière play Arnika exploring the multi-lingualism of border regions and its effect on their cultures. Like one of the characters in Arnika, the Alsatian poet Andre Weckmann was forcibly drafted into the Wehrmacht in WW2. After being wounded on the Russian front, he managed to desert and join the Free French. Weckmann’s poem Retour au Pays, written in three languages, is a meditation on his return to Alsace. Devised by three Alsatian theatre makers, taking Weckmann’s poem as their starting point, our Retour au Pays is a fascinating exploration of the dynamics of borderland regionalism and the ambivalent relationship of one artist with his homeland. Performed in English, French, German and Alsatian.
