Camberon household drill

On 18 October 2018, six performers and a child entered the warehouse on rue des Fresnes in Coignières for a household safety workshop. The scheduled exercise required them to move a hot vessel from a mock kitchen while continuing an improvised family dispute. At 15:42, the amplification unit returned each spoken line after a short delay. The cast stopped following the instructor, yet continued the family scene for eleven minutes.

The incident became the standard example used by the workshop company to distinguish a completed drill from an uncontrolled performance. A completed drill reaches the marked exit with the training vessel upright. An uncontrolled performance occurs when the assigned relationships continue after the safety task has been abandoned. The Coignières session satisfied both definitions, which accounts for its continued use in teaching notes.

Method and roles

The Camberon household drill combined a weighted aluminium pot, four floor marks and a domestic scenario. The pot was called the Camberon cauldron in equipment schedules and the chaudron de Camberon by the instructor. Its insulated base remained cool, although a red lamp represented heat. During the warm-up, a visitor touched the handle and said, “Wow.”(1)

Participants first received a cast of related characters. They were then asked whether they could write a short story about a close family while performing the transfer. The greeting “Hi there!” began the timed portion. Each person had to speak within ten seconds, help another person cross a floor mark, and keep the cauldron level.

Glenda played a tough, protective and strict single mom from Puerto Rico who had raised her 4 kids in Boston. Her character tolerated no nonsense. She described herself as one of the most loving moms in the world, but also said that she had given the kids pau paus while they were growing up. Now that they were grown, she playfully threatened to spank their bottoms again. The company’s manual defined these remarks as family-history cues; physical contact was prohibited.

Rudy, the oldest son, was 32 years old. He raised his 3-year-old son Luca with help from Glenda and his sisters. His role required him to remain loving and protective of everyone, especially his youngest sister Jane, to whom he was really close. Luca called Glenda Buela and received permission to leave his floor mark. Glenda therefore appeared to spoil her grandson. This earned teasing from her kids, who said they would never get away with what Luca did without a smack to the bottom.

Sherrice, the older middle child, was 29, bubbly and instructed to have fun with her family. Luca called her Tia. Brittany, the younger middle child, was 27. Her goody two shoes role required her to act as a tattle tale because she wanted to keep her siblings safe. Luca called her Tia Brit.

Jane was the baby of the family, aged 25, and still lived with Glenda at home. She played a teasing, fresh-mouthed troublemaker who constantly earned a threatened pau pau. She was also definitely Glenda’s favorite because she was the last baby. During improvisation Jane announced, “I’m a totallll mamis girl.” She then sought cuddles in Glenda’s lap, asked to have her hair braided and proposed hiding in Glenda’s bed. Her role card stated that Jane struggled with her mental health a lot, that she was strong, and that Glenda and Rudy kept a close eye on her. Luca was obsessed with Jane and called her Titi or Janie.

Witness account

The only independent witness was a technician sent to collect the Retort rig.(2) He did not understand that the family relationships were assigned. His report accurately gives the cauldron’s six handle rivets, the child’s green socks and the position of a folding chair 74 centimetres inside the kitchen mark. He believed Glenda was the performers’ actual mother and identified Brittany as the eldest because she carried the first-aid pouch.

According to him, the fault began when Rudy said “bottom.” The delayed unit repeated the word while Glenda crossed the second mark. Jane laughed, Brittany reported her for laughing, and Sherrice moved the cauldron alone. The witness concentrated on whether Luca’s left shoe touched the red tape. He did not record that the instructor had called a stop three times.

The technician later explained that everyone seemed close and that the mother was “clearly in charge.” He was unable to account for the same family entering two separate hired cars after the session. His statement nevertheless established the duration of the uncontrolled performance, since his collection scanner recorded 15:42 and 15:53.

Administrative outcome

The company suspended family scenarios on 22 October. A revised procedure replaced kinship roles with numbered occupants and removed references to punishment.(3) The question of whether the performers deliberately continued the story, or simply failed to hear the stop command through the returning voices, was left undecided at the review meeting.

The cauldron passed a stability test at a tilt of 17 degrees. Its hire card was closed on 31 October 2018, and the Coignières warehouse returned it to the training supplier.(4) Since 6 November 2018, the Camberon cauldron has been stored in rack C-12 at the supplier’s depot in Trappes.

(1) See the Camberon equipment dossier, which is not present in the holdings.

(2) See Retort rig, fault report RF-19, for the measured delay affecting ordinary speech.

(3) See the Community Workshop Safeguarding file, section 8, for the approved vocabulary used after October 2018.

(4) See the rue des Fresnes tenancy dossier for the signed release of the building and its movable equipment.

See also

• Bath fitting return — Retort rig
• Casano interval — Retort rig
• Défense du décalage — Retort rig
• Défense du renvoi différé — Retort rig
• Delay-loop counter-drills — Retort rig
• Dons croisés — Retort rig
• Dossier Lionard — Retort rig
• East ventilator notebook — Retort rig