Superstructure: youth stories and Algerian memory on stage at Nanterre-Amandiers

Here's the capo to accompany the article: Presented from November 6 to 22, 2025 at Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, Superstructure blends tales of youth, Algerian memory and a dystopian setting for a fragmentary fresco brought to life by Sonia Chiambretto and directed by Hubert Colas.

Running from November 6 to 22, 2025, Superstructure promises to be a gripping theatrical experience at the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, with text by Sonia Chiambretto and direction byHubert Colas. The show, which lasts 1h50 with intermission, will be presented in the theater's transformable auditorium, with performances on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 6pm and Sundays at 3pm.

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Adapted from Gratte-Ciel, a text published in 2020, this creation would feature Algerian youth torn between memory, violence and the desire for emancipation. It took Sonia Chiambretto almost ten years to gather testimonies and archives to give voice to the forgotten voices of young Algerians at three decisive moments: the war of independence, the black decade, and a near future marked by uncertainty.

The show would adopt a non-linear structure, with periods superimposed on one another without any apparent chronology. This fragmented narrative, both raw and poetic, would be expressed in bits and pieces in a set inspired by Le Corbusier's "Obus" plan: a radical fantasy city, where modernist utopia becomes an allegory of colonial blindness.

Hubert Colas, also in charge of set design, would set his story in this dystopian architecture, transformed into a space of memory, anger and hope. This choice would resonate strongly with the trajectories of these young figures, eager to live, understand and rebuild.

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Superstructure would appeal to audiences who enjoy political theater and experimental narrative forms, and are sensitive to issues of memory, transmission and emancipation. Those who prefer linear dramaturgy or more narrative theater may find the fragmentation of the narrative and the poetic density of the writing disconcerting.

Superstructure could thus be seen as a multi-faceted mirror, stretched between past and future, questioning collective memory through the words of those whom history has too often relegated to the shadows.

This article is based on online sources and information provided by the theater. The show has not been previewed.

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