Voila! Festival 2025 | Mal de Mer (seasick) by Compagnie FRÈRES

“If you don’t go out to sea, you’ll get nothing”

Two fishermen haul in another disappointing catch; a young woman dances for her dinner on a luxury cruise; a military submarine picks up signals they can’t decipher. Adrift in the Mediterranean, they are all being sucked towards the same dark secret at the bottom of the ocean.

Mal De Mer (seasick) is a whirlwind contemporary Odyssey where ancient myths come face-to-face with the absurdities of late capitalism. Funny, poetic and physical, it’s a story about when to hold on and how to let go in an ever-sinking world.

Credits

Created by: Compagnie FRÈRES

Directed by: Marta Mcilduff

Performed by: Aurora Nyttingnes, Caitlin Campbell, Jeanne Passot & Solène Bourdeau

About this Performance

Age Recommendation: This performance is recommended for ages 12+

Warnings: This performance contains flashing lights

Language: This performance is performed in French

Running time: This performance is 60 minutes long with no interval

Accessibility

See our Accessibility Guide for information about access in our venue.

Find out more about Compagnie FRÈRES

We are five young women from France, England, Ireland, Norway and Italy respectively. We met on the two year professional course at international physical theatre school Lecoq. We devise theatre together that is physical, absurd, thought-provoking, moving and funny.

One strand of our process is anchored in our fascination with the unseen corners and characters of the real world; a previous project saw us working for a month alongside fishmongers in the open air markets of Belleville, Barbès Rochechouart and Ivry sur Seine in Paris. For another project we explored the world of mining, and for this show we have spent months in contact with fishermen of Marseille and Carro.

Compagnie FRÈRES creates theatre that is bursting with humour and humanity, telling stories that are at once fantastical and social-realist. At the heart of everything we make, we are asking the same question: comment vivre ensemble? (how can we live together?)

@compagnie.freres

Voila! Festival

Voila! 2025 will continue to curate a wide range of cultures, stories, and aesthetics with challenge and change in the spotlight. Wherever it’s happening, whoever is making it happen, and whatever language it’s using, this vibrant programme of international talents brings together outposts, hubs, individuals, vanguards and burgeoning theatrical energy.

The 2025 festival will take place 3rd-23rd November 2025, in venues across London. We are returning with our Theatre Deli Voila! Residency and will once again serve as the festival's artists hub, welcoming audiences and artists to share our space to create and connect.