“Talking about cancer does not make you sick”, Sabrina Nanni does one in a funny, moving and pathos-free scene

Sabrine Nanni : “En parlant de ma vie, toutes les femmes se reconnaissent un peu !”

"Ex Utéro", it’s a stripping stroll through the life of a woman : maternity, parenthood, divorce, illness… But it’s also a beautiful story of resilience. A show as hilarious as it is moving to discover Thursday April 25, at 8 p.m. and it’s free!

Tell us how your show "Ex Utero" was born. ?

It’s a show that shouldn’t have existed! Originally, my desire to take to the stage was born from a wonderful meeting with Sophie Brugeille, an artistic love at first sight. She begins to write me a text about motherhood, the desire for a baby while the biological clock is ticking… hellip; My life then! And then, in the middle of writing the show, the unthinkable happens: I learn that I have uterine cancer…hellip; Obviously, the project could no longer be the same. And very quickly, it becomes obvious that this cancer will also be the driving force behind a new story.

This disease destroys your dreams, your project?

I hit a wall, an entire planet in my head, I expected everything except that. And I had never been confronted with cancer in those around me. I suddenly enter a new world, the hospital, the appointments, the colpohysterectomy, the radiotherapy, the brachytherapy… I followed everything like a good little soldier, I realized without really realizing.

You are turning your whole life around?

I am putting my professional life on hold but I am not giving up the idea of ​​the show. I don't know if I denied cancer but I kept it at a distance, I never gave it a nickname. If we don't name, we don't exist. This cancer was the job of doctors. My mission was to keep my head held high. This piece project carried me through and after the illness.

“Ex-Utéro”, Thursday April 25, at d'Alzon

"Ex Utero", the only one on stage by Sabrina Nanni is offered free of charge by Aesio Mutuelle. A comedy that addresses the life of a woman and sexual health issues with intelligence and sensitivity. Thursday April 25, at 8 p.m. (reception at 7:30 p.m.) at the Alzon Institute, 11 rue Sainte-Perpétue, in Nîmes. After the show, discussion with the audience with Sabrina Nanni and Professor Nadine Houede, oncologist at Nîmes University Hospital. Free but registration required at https://aesiomutuelle.hivebrite.com/events/136543

You completely change the subject of your piece?

Yes, I also want to talk about what… and which concerns so many women. I realize that I am one of those who takes a smear without really knowing what it is for. When I understood that it was thanks to this smear that I was diagnosed with uterine cancer, I wanted to inform people. In addition, it is a cancer that can be avoided. And I discovered long after that there was a vaccine against the papillomavirus, that almost no one knows about it, it’s amazing!

What is your show about then ?

There was never any question of doing a show about cancer. I wouldn't really want to see a show about cancer! I tell the story of a woman's life at the moment when her eldest son leaves home. This child that I never had, I invent a life for us, funny and cruel, from his birth to his flight. To always evoke with humor, the baby blues, motherhood, the mental load of a family, the couple who are on the rocks and divorce, the sexuality of their teenager, visits to the gynecologist too! And cancer right at the end…

90% of cervical cancers could be prevented through screening

Each year, in France, HPV (papillomavirus) infections are responsible for more than 6,000 new cases of cancer and 30,000 cervical cancer lesions. Vaccination against HPV is not one of the eleven compulsory vaccinations. But it is recommended by the High Authority for Health (HAS) because it helps prevent six cancers  (cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus, ENT). Vaccination concerns both girls and boys and does not exempt girls from having to have a regular smear from the age of 25. HPV is very contagious. Transmission can occur from the first sexual intercourse, with or without penetration. It is the most common sexually transmitted infection.

Who are you talking to ? To women ?

It’s a show without pathos, where funny situations follow one another in the life of an often overwhelmed mother. I speak to women but also to men. In the end, people often say to me “You actually told my life story!” There may be a few tears, but it's emotion, not sadness.

Beyond laughter, you also want to send a message of prevention ?

Yes but it only arrives at the end in an unexpected form. Gynecological cancers (cervix, uterus, ovaries…), we never talk about it. Cancer is a bad word that scares you, we are also dealing with intimacy, like a double punishment. I wasn't ashamed but I realized that many women hide, don't dare talk about it…

Since then, you have become involved in an association to help the sick ?

I wanted to give meaning to what had happened to me, to what doesn't have any with this show about a fantasized motherhood, collateral damage from my cancer. And do something concrete by getting involved in Imagyn, an association which supports gynecological cancer patients, whom I help by donating proceeds. And where I testify because talking about cancer does not make you sick, on the contrary it can save your life!