Thomas Jolly © Olivier MetzgerModds
Comedian and stage director, Thomas Jolly trained with Olivier Lopez, Jean-Pierre Dupuy and René Pareja, while studying theatre. In 2003, he entered the French National School of Theatre TNB (Théâtre national de Bretagne) and where he worked with Jean-François Sivadier, Claude Régy, Bruno Meyssat, Marie Vayssière, Anton Kouznetsov...
After completing his studies, he founded his own theatre company, La Piccola Familia. He staged Arlequin poli par l’amour de Marivaux in 2006, Toâ (by Guitry) in 2009 and Piscine (pas d’eau) by Ravenhill. From 2010 to 2014, he staged Shakespeare’s Henry VI, an 18-hour continuous trilogy performance, entirely performed at the Avignon Festival in 2014. This Shakespearian trilogy has since been completed with Richard III, that he both staged and performed. For the 2016 edition of the Avignon Festival, he created Le Ciel, la nuit et la pierre glorieuse, Les Chroniques du Festival d’Avignon and Le Radeau de la Méduse by Kaiser, and, for the 2018 edition, Thyestes by Seneca. For the opera, Thomas Jolly directed Fantasio at the Opera Comique in 2017, then Dusapin’s Macbeth Underworld at La Monnaie in Brussels in 2019.
Since 2011, Thomas Jolly has been working as a teacher in several Conservatoires and National Schools. He was also successively associate artist for the Trident – Scène nationale de Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the TNB – Théâtre national de Bretagne, the TNS – Théâtre national de Strasbourg, the Grand T – Théâtre de Loire-Atlantique.
Since January 2020, he has been director of the Le Quai Centre dramatique national Angers Pays de la Loire. In 2022, he created The Dragon (Schwartz), the tetralogy Henry VI + Richard III (Shakespeare), and also revived the musical Starmania at the Seine Musicale.
Thomas Jolly has been selected as the artistic director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2024 Games and the Paralympics in Paris.
