| Directed: | By Ariane Mnouchkine |
| Sets designed: | By Guy Claude Francois |
| Paintings: | By Danielle Heusslein Gire |
| Cast: | Myriam Azencot, Duccio Bellugi Vannuccini, Juliana Carneiro da Cunha, Sergio Canto, Laurent Clauwaert, Martial Jacques, Myriam Boullay, Nicolas Sotnikoff, Renata Ramos-Maza, Marie-Paule Ramo Guinard, Carolina Pecheny, Esther Andre-Konstantellos, Eve Doe-Bruce, Helene Cinque, Maitreyi, Guillaume Briat, Shagayegh Beheshti, Delphine Cottu, Pascal Guarise, Dominique Jambert, Sava Lovov, Vincent Mangado, Jean- Charles Maricot, Fabianna Mello e Souza, Serge Nicolai, Matthieu Rauchvarger |
For more than thirty years, under the guidance of its founder Ariane Mnouchkine, the Theatre du Soleil has attracted admiration of the audiences, evolving into a vivid legend. In France, its productions are creative events: sharpening minds through unusual approaches, a constant questioning of the goals of Theatre and of its forms, a celebration for thousands of devotees. The Mnouchkine phenomenon is an exception in the French Theatre. The life and work of Ariane Mnouchkine has long been devoted to finding and redefining the original role of Theatre in society, expressing its responsibility to the 'populus' as Vilar has once dreamed of a people's Theatre. Resurrecting the revolutionary forces of the masses in 1789 and 1793, themselves playing a part of a larger drama, or finding inspiration in the great classical texts to cast light upon the phenomenon of the contemporary oppression, Theatre remains the art of the moment.
In the framework of French theatre, the communal approach of Ariane Mnouchkine stands out from a system known for a number of director-stars, affiliated with famous houses, and actors brought into the limelight by the media. Mnouchkine's theatre is inseparable from the idea of collective work of all the members of the company. For the most part, the company is made up of young actors. Its international character is underscored by numerous exchanges and adventures in the larger World Theatre.
Actors, musicians, technical staff and now the author Helene Cixous, are all involved from the start - at the time the production is first conceived to the elaboration of set design. The ultimate results of improvisation, research, physical, vocal and expressive preparation are only the more impressive when one considers the particularly demanding performance schedule. Against changes in theatrical fashion, the Theatre du Soleil continues to remain faithful to its own communal approach, be the text predetermined, as in The Shakespeare series, The Atrides, or Tartuffe, or be it worked out during the rehearsal process as in L'Age d'Or or in the latest show performed in Moscow