Introduction to the Théâtre du Soleil

THÉÂTRE DU SOLEIL

The Théâtre du Soleil, founded in 1964 by Ariane Mnouchkine and a few friends from university theatre and the Jacques Lecoq school, made a name for itself very early on, both with its collective creations (LES CLOWNS, 1789) and with its versions of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and Wesker's THE KITCHEN. Everything was already there, in the making: the attraction for an epic and contemporary theatre nourished by history, the importance given to research into form, masked acting, the influence of Asian theatres, etc.

In 1970, the arrival at the Cartoucherie, a former military factory in the Bois de Vincennes, on the outskirts of Paris, anchored the company and gave it the workplace it had dreamed of, the space necessary for the existence of a troupe such as the Théâtre du Soleil: a cooperative, practising equal pay, sharing tasks between different trades, and already an essential component of the troupe: actors from all over the world.

The Cartoucherie also reinforced what makes a theatre strong: its affectionate and privileged link with its audience. Here, everything is done to make them feel at home: they are welcomed, pampered, fed, invited to a party.

The important and historic collaborators of Ariane Mnouchkine and the troupe then arrived: Jean-Jacques Lemêtre, composer and multi-instrumentalist; Erhardt Stieffel, mask maker; GuyClaude François, set designer; Hélène Cixous, writer and academic. Since then, shows and films have followed one another and toured the world: L'ÂGE D'OR (The Golden Age), which revived the Commedia dell'arte, MOLIÈRE, the Shakespeare cycle, influenced by Indian and Japanese forms, ancient tragedies (LES ATRIDES, inspired by Indian and Caucasian forms), modern creations (written by Hélène Cixous) with contemporary preoccupations, and collective productions. Over the last twenty years, numerous multiplatform creations have taken the company around the world: Let's mention TAMBOURS SUR LA DIGUE (Drums on the Dam), inspired by Japanese puppet forms, LE DERNIER CARAVASÉRAIL (The Last Caravanserai), built from stories and testimonies collected from refugees and asylum seekers all over the world, with a scenography on carts, which we find again for LES ÉPHÉMÈRES (Ephemera), intimate stories about French memories, then LES NAUFRAGÉS DU FOL-ESPOIR (The Survivors of Mad Hope), a mise en abîme of theatrical and cinematographic creation mixing silent cinema and the rise of the 14-18 war around a novel by Jules Verne, a MACBETH tribute to the British cinema of the 40s and 50s, KANATA directed by Robert Lepage, on the genocides and femicides against the Canadian First Nations and currently L’ÎLE D’OR (The Isle of Gold), a return to the Japanese sources for the company.

The company currently has around 70 permanent members, drawn from roughly 20 countries.

L’ÎLE D’OR (Théâtre du Soleil) Photo: Anne Lacombe

Paris training: at the Cartoucherie