IN DEVELOPMENT
THE FRENCH CARNIVOLUTION
revolution. carnival. apocolypse.
After
several years of research, Artistic Director, Debbie McMahon, is developing
a spectacle production on the French Revolution through the lens of myth
and Carnival. The Revolution is a shift in
human consciousness, a movement that begins to replace the sacred with
the profane and where man takes God's place. It is the seminal
Revolution, the birth of Melodrama and the monster manifesting in mob.
Hope was most glorious and The Terror was Hell that surfaced on Earth.
And the Austrian, Marie-Antoinette, said nothing
about cake.
Like
other companies of the boulevard theatres pre-revolution, the
Guignolers were forbidden to perform actual plays onstage. The official
theatres (i.e. Comedie Francaise) had the monopoly on the scripted
plays leaving the boulevard theatres to find creative theatrical
techniques: pantomime, puppetry, in one case a company was able to
perform a script with a scrim hung in front of the stage. But
revolution meant freedom - in 1791 a law passed enabling any theatre to
do any material, and the Guignolers were able to tear down that veil.
But in attempt to gain order in the chaos of revolution, the
revolutionary government later imposed even greater censorship than
pre-revolution, forbidding theatres to even depict an aristocrat
onstage. Being politically uncorrect onstage could cost you your life.
We say, enough.
WELCOME:
It is 1794. The Guignolers invite you to a secret performance in which
they, and you as audience, risk their lives to perform and witness the
story of the revolution thus far, both the destruction and rebirth
inherent in carnival: to celebrate the glory and to reveal the truth of
the terror. It is carnival and apocolypse. It is celebration and hell.
For the last time, we tear down that fucking veil. Welcome, to the French Carnivolution.
Theatrical tools:
melodrama, storytelling, puppetry, medieval passion plays, live music,
historical dance, mask, tableux vivant, original memoirs,
pamphlets, clowns, devils, a Guillotine, the mouth of hell,
To contribute financial support, time, production and/or artistic talent - designers, actors, musicians, please contact us, info@grandguignolers.com.
Click here for the regularly updated BIBLIOGRAPHY used in the research.
