Eliatha Cissé, the theater to heal the wounds of domestic violence

At first glance, Eliatha, long two-tone braids on her head and shy smile, seems quite discreet, which does not correspond to the image that we have of an actress. But quickly, the words follow one another, her laughter resounds on the Champ-de-Mars and she tells her story, without taboo. Sitting on a bench in front of the Eiffel Tower, with a big smile, the theater lover recounts the good times as well as the bad with a lucidity worthy of one who has rebuilt herself.

From island to island

Born in Mali where she spent her childhood, Eliatha studied in Reunion for five years for a master’s degree in finance and insurance. ” I have always liked numbers. So it was quite natural to head to this branch she smiles. Far from being her only interest, the 26-year-old laughs: ” I like to write, but also to dance, salsa, samba, zouk… Anything that is swaying, in fact! And listen to music, everything. I can go from Booba to Celine Dion. During a stay in Paris, the bank adviser meets her future companion, whom she decides to join when she leaves her island.

By joining him in Île-de-France, the situation deteriorates. The words collide, sometimes get lost, but the smile remains. If she continues to want to talk about it, the subject remains difficult to approach. ” I was pregnant during the assaults, it was repeated. It started with psychological violence, and it ended with physical violence. “, she explains.

Eliatha knew it could happen to others, but she found it unlikely that she herself would become a victim: ” At first, we think it’s exceptional, but it continues. That’s when I became aware and I left six months later. But before the physical violence, generally, it is psychological violence, manipulation, blackmail, and that, on the other hand, we do not realize right away. The spiral engages.

Pregnant, she quickly realizes that it is necessary to flee her ” executioner “. And she weighs her words: The executioner is the one who kills you slowly. At the police station, when she lodged a complaint, the young woman obtained the number of an association to help victims of domestic violence. Women’s Stopover-Solidarity calls her back to offer her a place in temporary accommodation, a few weeks before the start of confinement.

Vital support

When Eliatha arrives in the association, she is asked to write her life goal on a piece of paper. It is simple : ” To be able to be independent, to reintegrate myself into society, because we’re not going to lie to each other, to be a single mother, homeless without a job… I didn’t want to be President of the Republic, I didn’t have a crazy goal! she laughs.

Accompanied for everything, from the administrative procedures to the care of her granddaughter, she can finally breathe. Within the association, she rubs shoulders with women of all ages, in their sixties to 18, of all skin colors, of all origins “, who have experienced the same thing as her. ” Already, we tell ourselves that we are not alone. We have the impression of being in a team, we have the impression of being stronger when there are several of us and we realize that we are not an isolated case. »

The young woman takes part in many workshops: “ There were self-esteem workshops, theater workshops, there was even self-defense. In short, lots of small workshops like that. Me, I took part in almost all of them, like the parenting workshops, except the painting one: I didn’t want to get dirty! It was Tanya, her referent within the association, who offered her the theater, because she knew she liked to write. The play will be co-written with the women of the association. ” I said to myself : “Why not ?” After two or three observation sessions, I started playing with them and it went well right away. »

Play to raise awareness

The aim of the workshop is to encourage women to write about domestic violence, to externalize. The piece, titled The Big Wide, is as much a way of denouncing, of rebuilding oneself as of raising awareness. ” It was therapy for me. The fact of being able to tell, not the story as it happened, but domestic violence in general, when we ourselves have been victims of violence… it’s enormous “, animates the amateur actress.

The rehearsals follow one another, first by videoconference, then in real life, until the shows. A dozen performances in Île-de-France and Bordeaux, where you have to overcome the fear of the gaze. Eliatha protected herself by focusing on her character: ” Me, I repressed my own feelings. Everything I felt. Depending on each scene, there is an attitude to have and a state of mind. For example, for angry scenes, you have to get angry for real. And then, suddenly, we must be happy. That’s the hardest part. »

Today, Eliatha still works in the bank. Despite her job and her child, she has not given up on the theater at all, on the contrary: many weekends and holidays are devoted to rehearsals. Now that she has rebuilt herself, she still needs to play to complete her healing. It is his accomplishment, the same as found at the top of Maslow’s pyramid. ” I passed all the stages of Maslow’s pyramid, physiological needs, getting to safety… At the very top, there are the needs for accomplishment. For me, it’s a sign of healing to be able to go on stage, take courage in both hands, tell and denounce this violence. »

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