Karim Slama and Jean-François Meuwly
Photo: Claude Dussez
Karim Slama was born in Lausanne in 1976 to a Swiss-German mother and a Tunisian father. Karim has an EFZ as an electromechanic and a diploma in thermal engineering. He is self-taught in theatre. He took to the boards, or rather the ice rinks, of improvisational theatre at the age of 13 and later took part in three improvisation world championships. At the same time, from the age of 18, he joined companies such as Meurtres et Mystères, the Forum Theatre of Le Caméléon and later numerous other companies such as Karl's Kühne Gassenschau. In 2001, he turned his back on his profession as an engineer for good and devoted himself exclusively to the theatre as an actor, author and producer. For more than 20 years, he has been delighting us with his creations, tours and numerous television and radio appearances in French-speaking Switzerland and even in German-speaking Switzerland. Karim has received several awards (Prix de la Scène 2011 from the Fondation Vaudoise pour la Culture and nominations for the Swiss Cabaret Prize in 2017 and 2020) and develops ambitious projects in which visuals play a key role. He has made it his trademark, initially in sketch shows and since 2016 in projects with sophisticated dramaturgy. Karim is characterized by his sophisticated productions, from solo to stages with up to eleven performers. He has a loyal and strong team around him that helps him to realize his artistic and production ambitions.
Photo: Rossana Del Castillo
Jean-François Meuwly was born in Lausanne in 1982 to a Swiss father and a Mexican mother. He is an actor, creative artist and social worker. He began his theatre career alongside his work as an educator and was particularly interested in the theatre of the oppressed. In 2017, he studied Lecoq pedagogy at the international school of theatre creation and movement Cabuia in Buenos Aires. He then went on to specialize at the Accademia Teatro Dimitri in Switzerland, where he will complete his Master's degree in Physical Theatre in 2022. In addition to his socio-educational work, he has been co-directing, creating and performing at Cie DesAires Teatro, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, since 2018. At the same time, he runs theatre training courses for adults and young people in various institutional and other settings.
Project
"Originally it was a game. A game in the service of reality. One of those games that you play with family or friends, that you take seriously and that bring you together on the board for a few rounds. You laugh and get angry and always learn a bit about yourself in the process. There are moments of solidarity, but also small low blows, betrayals or other falls from the throne. We are careful not to repeat these in real life, but they still say a lot about us in the game.
This mentoring takes place as part of an immersive documentary theatre project about migration. It offers the opportunity to deal with the gamification of this complex topic and then with the first drafts for its scenic realization - or: How can the audience be put at the service of the stage?"
