What do a druid and elves, Ursanne, Germain, Randoald, the Moutier-Grandval Bible, Xavier Stockmar and the Moutier riots have in common? All these elements are in “Moutier side gardens”, a great outdoor show which will be played in Delémont from August 12th.
“Moutier side gardens, from legend to history” tells the story of the Jura, from its creation to the present day, also addressing the moments that united the Jura residents. This is the case, for example, with the arrival of the Bible of Moutier-Grandval, an illuminated manuscript of the Bible, preserved in the British Library in London, executed around 835 at the Abbey of Saint-Martin in Tours, property until at the beginning of the 19th century from the Abbey of Moutier-Grandval in the Bernese Jura, Switzerland. The thread of the story follows the journey of this precious Bible, the true heroine of the show, from the High Middle Ages to today.
Other highlights of the show: the assassination of the two Saints, Germain and Randoald, and the Moutier riots in 1975. In “Moutier side gardens”, more than two hundred people from the region retrace their history, under the leadership of the Confrérie des Jardiniers, which has been organizing such plays in the town of Delémont every four years since 1989.
The richness of a terroir
Florence Reber Mittempergher is one of the people involved in the show. At the foot of the oldest oak in Europe, also called Chêne des bosses, in Châtillon, south of Delémont, she recounts her role in “Moutier side gardens”: the shadow. “He’s a rather discreet character who has relatively little text, but who is present from the start to the end of the play”, she explains to RTS.
>> To listen: the interview with Florence Reber Mittempergher
Florence Reber Mittempergher knows many stories about the Jura, because in addition to participating in this show, she is also a storyteller. “I would rather say an apprentice storyteller, a craftswoman. I know some of the stories because I like the terroir… not thousands either, because the Jura terroir is immensely rich”. A richness that can be found in the show “Moutier side gardens”.
Interview by Antoine Droux
Adaptation web: ld
“Moutier on the garden side, from legend to history”, from August 12 to 27 2022, the 9th show of the Brotherhood of Gardeners, will set up the stage and bleachers on the large lawn of the Craft Professional School, rue de la Jeunesse in Delémont.