Inspiration

Enter without knocking…

So many stories to experience

Sep. 2024

4 min.

Opening the door to a hotel room, nothing out of the ordinary, right? However, stepping into the room in the middle of a conversation or with one or more people going about their business may prove a bit more disconcerting.

This is the magic of the theatrical concept created by Stéphanie Doche and Pierre-Louis Lanier, two incredibly imaginative playwrights and directors who live in Annecy.

Their most recent play is being performed at the Les Trésoms Hotel, another great reason to try this immersive experience. Knock knock!

Every hotel room’s a stage

Stéphanie and Pierre-Louis have worked on original projects together for years, including “Embouteillages” (Traffic Jam) in 2013, performed at Clermont Castle where each scene in or around cars.

Since then, the desire to work on a new out-of-the-box project never stopped. The first edition of “Entrez sand frapper” (Enter without knocking) debuted in 2017.

“For this first version at the Central Hotel in Annecy, every room had a theme that inspired each sketch. This unique location opened our minds to so many new ideas for set designs,” Pierre-Louis remembers.

“Wanting to repeat the experience, we were steered towards the Les Trésoms Hotel. At the time, we were completely oblivious to Veronique and Pascal Droux’s artistic sensibility, but partnering together quickly became an obvious choice.”

After haunting the halls and rooms of the Central Hotel for years, leaving so many indelible memories, this time around the “D’Aucuns Disent” theater group has decided to set up shop at the Les Trésoms Hotel for two weekends: November 15-17 and November 22-24, with a few possible additional dates soon to be announced, stay tuned… As of now, performances include fourteen 8-minute sketches, separated into to two distinct circuits.

Enjoy the opportunity to view, up close and personal, scenes that we have all imagined at some point while passing by a hotel room’s closed door, surprising a conversation in a hallway’s tiny alcove, or taking a quick glance at a dimly lit window across the way.

Anything is possible as the hotel transforms into its own distinct character that holds all the secrets in this unique place where people go about their lives, their fates briefly crossing paths before continuing along their merry way. From lovers’ quarrels to family tales, each hotel room morphs into a tiny theater to showcase these fleeting moments of daily life, from the ordinary to the fantastic, captured at a unique point in time as each story unfolds.

Everyday life unmasked

Do not expect theater bells or standing ovations, the usual customs do not apply within the close proximity of such an original shared experience.

Spectators become part of the décor, and stand, sit, crouch, or even lie down where they can. In a door jam or next to a dresser, there are no instructions, directions, or protocols to guide curious onlookers. The close quarters make some individuals uncomfortable while helping others lose their inhibitions; actors and spectators alike share the desire for a different, unconventional experience.

In small groups of four to five people who often do not know one another, visitors are invited to move from room to room, tasting small slices of life for a few minutes, just enough time to ponder why the conversation started or imagine what will follow.

Stripped of all artifice, tricks, and devices, this form of theater focuses on the essential, showing to just what extent the marvelous often hides itself in what we usually consider the most insignificant moments of life, shining a light on all of the little things that can make everyday life so vibrant.

A fleeting instant on break or at work, a lovely getaway or in the heat of the moment, the hotel harbors extraordinary dreams and uniquely human dramas, reavling deeply buried secrets in the alcove of a room that belongs to no one.

The wall between spectator and actor has disappeared, destroying the usual boundary between reality and fiction. Losing your frame of reference, immersed in the turmoil, the light turns off as you unintentionally lean against the switch, a reassuring accident for you yet creating confusion for everyone else.

An incomparable experience

While perhaps unsettling, spectators are never taken hostage within the sketch, only given the opportunity to reflect, as if behind a one-way mirror, leaving just as they came, like a gust of wind, taking with them a breath or two as a souvenir.

This stroll feels like a daydream, sleepwalking while awake, a midsummer night’s dream full of magic, sheer delight planned in advance. And yet the fantasy is inspired by reality. Through this new form of theater, the current partnership between the Les Trésoms Hotel and the “D’Aucuns Disent” theater group goes beyond simple logistics, and has given birth to several new scenes, including some inspired by hotel staff.

“By sharing their experiences, the people who work here day-in and day-out have provided us with the opportunity to truly understand the soul of this hotel,” Stéphanie explains.

All scenes stand alone, and while breaking the fourth wall occurs from time to time, each scene should be savored one after the other, like eating piece after piece of sweet-and-sour candy to elicite a unique mixture of laughter, charm, and emotion. Enjoy an exceptional experience off the beaten path of the ordinary, one that you simply have to feel to understand.

Lovers hide, friends argue, a housekeeper daydreams, an attentive receptionist cares… Are you ever so curious to learn what they are thinking?

Enter without knocking and you just may find out.