Category: Opera-Comique in three acts
Language: French
Running times: 2h45 (including interval)
Premiered: 1872, Opéra-Comique (Paris)
New production: 13 December 2023, Opéra-Comique
Fantasio, 2023 | Gaëlle Arquez (Fantasio) © Stefan Brion
Stage director: Thomas Jolly • Set Set designer: Thibaut Fack • Costume designer: Sylvette Dequest • Lighting designer: Antoine Travert et Philippe Berthomé
Cast
Number of Principals: 11 + 2 chorus members
Chorus / parts (S/A/T/B): 32 (7/7/9/9)
Instrumentation
48 : 8-6-5-4-2/ 2.2.2.2 / 4.2.3.0 / 1Hp.1timp.4perc
Volume of the production
Set and props : 2 containers
Other info
Last performed : Opéra-Comique, 2023
Production : Opéra-Comique
Coproduction : Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra de Rouen-Normandie, Opéra national de Montpellier, Théâtre national croate de Zagreb
In a few words
Young Fantasio has lost the taste for life; he dreams of changing his fate. Just then, the king's jester has died: why not take his place? However, no one loved the deceased more than Princess Elsbeth, destined for a sorrowful political union. The new jester will lead the princess to listen to her heart. How far will she allow herself to be seduced?
Concept
“Fantasio's disillusionment, like that of its creators, resonates with our disillusionments today, whether political, cultural, or philosophical. Just as in Musset's time, we seek refuge in the whimsical productions of our era: series, manga, digital creation, electro music... I am convinced that one day we will look back on our era as a period of intense cultural flourishing, akin to the 19th century. Guided by the power of his imagination, the character of Fantasio follows a fairly classic, almost initiatory journey from shadow to light. » - Thomas Jolly, director
Press review
"On stage, Thomas Jolly's signature style is quickly recognizable. One finds his flashy colors contrasting with the dominant grays and blacks, his exaggerated makeup, his play of lights and beautiful chiaroscuro. Thanks to him, within this dark scene/city adorned with Chinese shadows, magic bursts forth! Melancholic and mischievous, Fantasio, here a sort of modern-day clown with Harlequin pants, fits perfectly with the director who delicately dares confetti, to celebrate properly the return of this masterpiece to the walls that saw its birth."
L’essentiart.fr / 14 décembre 2023 / Benoît Gaboriaud
"it's especially in the stage devices that the ingenuity of Thomas Jolly, as well as Thibaut Fack, in charge of the sets, and Philippe Berthomé and Antoine Travert, in charge of the lighting, shines through the most. In addition to the very cinematic device of the elliptical fade to black, projected on a backdrop, there are also play of Chinese shadows and the multiplication of light bulbs, both as set pieces and accessories: strings of festive lights, torches illuminating the darkness of a prisoner's cell... Like the light sources, references to pop culture abound: the wigs worn by Elsbeth's attendants stand as a nod to singer Sia's self-anonymization, while the kitschy pink and silver decorations of the wedding evoke the cheap splendor of the 2000s."
Olyrix.com / 14 décembre 2023 / Chloé Delos-Eray
Director of Artistic Coordination, Production and Development
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