RENDEZ–VOUS

RENDEZ–VOUS

Director: James Thierrée

Theatre: LA COMPAGNIE DU HANNETON, Paris/France

Hosting Theatre: Theatre Factory 42

Date:

11 July - 20:00 hr,

12 July - 20:00 hr,

 

With Victoria Thierrée-Chaplin, Jean-Baptiste Thierrée, Aurélia Thierrée and James Thierrée

With the participation of Lucia Leonardi

 

Costumes: Victoria Thierrée-Chaplin

Original soundscapes and light design: James Thierrée

Costume making: Monika Schwarzl

Stage technicians: Roxane Grallien, Alessio Negro, Véronique Grand, Gerd Walter

Lighting manager: Samuel Bovet

Sound manager: Guillaume Duguet

Stage technicians: Roxane Grallien, Alessio Negro, Monika Schwarzl, Gerd Walter

Stage assistants: Alessio Negro, Anna Oustinov

Sound editing: Lucas Colin, Domenico Petillo

Production manager: Delphine Leclerc

 

A family at the crossroads of imagination

Victoria, Jean-Baptiste, Aurélia and James Thierrée open their album and revisit fragments of their past performances in a dreamlike journey. An intimate story of circus, theatre and music hall.

From the creation of Cirque Bonjour in 1971 to Cirque Invisible, via La Symphonie du Hanneton, Bells and Spells, Raoul and Murmures des murs, Rendez-vous ignites a firework display of fleeting moments where fantasy reigns supreme.

 

“We could use all sorts of clichés, carefully explain the how and why, tell you that Rendez-vous is a return to our roots, an artistic culmination, a family mise en abyme, or a way of coming full circle.

We could speak about transmission, theatrical heritage, lineage, children of the stage, or idealistic performers creating a new kind of circus in the 1970s.

We could analyse it all, stage our personal motivations or shared peculiarities, and lay out the many reasons that have led us to share the stage.

But we won’t.

We will leave it to you to imagine, to dream—or to ignore all of this —so that you can wander more freely with us at the heart of this magic rendez-vous.”

 

James Thierrée

A 360-degree artist, James Thierrée spent his childhood traveling with Le Cirque Imaginaire, created by his parents, Victoria Thierrée-Chaplin and Jean-Baptiste Thierrée. There, he learned acrobatics, trapeze, music, dance, and pantomime, while simultaneously beginning an acting career under the direction of filmmakers and artists such as Peter Greenaway, Robert Wilson, Coline Serreau, Claude Miller, and Tony Gatlif.

In 1998, he founded La Compagnie du Hanneton, whose productions have since toured worldwide, captivating audiences of all ages and imaginations.

La Symphonie du Hanneton - La Veillée des Abysses - Au Revoir Parapluie - Raoul - Tabac Rouge - La Grenouille avait raison - Frôlons - Room

James Thierrée has received numerous awards, including seven Molières and one César Award.

 

Victoria Thierrée-Chaplin

In 1969, Victoria Chaplin met actor and director Jean-Baptiste Thierrée. Together, they dreamed of a different kind of circus and created Le Cirque Bonjour at the Festival d'Avignon in 1971.

Victoria and Jean-Baptiste Thierrée then developed a more personal approach to the circus arts, giving an important place to fantasy and dreamlike imagery. In Le Cirque Imaginaire, they performed alone on stage, accompanied by their two children, Aurélia and James.

Le Cirque Imaginaire later became Le Cirque Invisible, and the family performed on stages across all five continents. In 2003, Victoria Thierrée-Chaplin created L’Oratorio d’Aurélia staring Aurélia Thierrée, followed by Murmures des murs in 2011. Bells and Spells is her third opus.

 

Jean-Baptiste Thierrée

Born in Paris to a working-class family, Jean-Baptiste Thierrée was first an apprentice printer, then a stage prompter at the Porte Saint-Martin theater, before becoming an actor.

Roger Planchon hired him as soon as the Théâtre de la Cité was founded in 1957. He also worked with Peter Brook and Jean-Marie Serreau. At the age of 25, he founded his own company and created five productions in three years: Le Chevalier au pilon flamboyant by Beaumont and Fletcher at the Théâtre du Grand Guignol, Le Revizor by Nikolai Gogolat at the Centre Dramatique de l’Ouest, L’Auberge des Adrets at the Porte Saint-Martin, Cami Chaval in collaboration with Chaval at the Comédie de Paris, Midi moins cinq by Jacques Sternberg and Ylipe at the Opéra de Liège. In cinema, he notably worked with Alain Resnais in Muriel, Jacques Baratier in Dragées au poivre and Pièges, and Federico Fellini in Les Clowns. In 1968, he turned toward the circus arts.

Victoria Chaplin and Jean-Baptiste Thierrée met in 1969. Over the course of thirty years, they created three productions: Le Cirque Bonjour, Le Cirque Imaginaire, and, since 1990, Le Cirque Invisible.

 

Aurélia Thierrée

Aurélia Thierrée made her stage debut in her parents’ productions Le Cirque Imaginaire and Le Cirque Invisible. She later worked in several cabarets in Berlin and performed with The Tiger Lillies in their show Tiger Lillies Circus. In cinema, she worked with or appeared in films by directors such as Miloš Forman and Jacques Baratier.

Aurélia made her breakthrough in 2003 in L’Oratorio d’Aurélia, created by Victoria Thierrée-Chaplin. The production was presented around the world: in the United States (including at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, and American Repertory Theater), as well as in many theaters across Europe (in Paris at the Théâtre du Rond-Point and the Théâtre des Abbesses, and in London at the Lyric Theatre for two consecutive seasons), in Asia, Brazil, Australia, and beyond.

This was followed by Murmures des murs and then Bells and Spells, which were presented in France, Italy, Brazil, and England.