As a Board member of a puppet theater in Brookline, MA, I was thankful for the reminder of a 2018 family trip that included a visit to see Minouchette, et.al., at the Théâtre des Marionnettes du Luxembourg. I am also thankful for the reminder that while our theater is encouraged by engaging extremely enthusiastic crowds of kindergartners during school field trips, we take pride knowing that for many students, their visit to our theater is their first-ever live theatrical experience. There is much to be appreciated by those who fill a theater with infectious childhood laughter, and, as stated in this article, by ‘opening the doors to their imagination.’
15
You might have mentioned one of the great scenes not just in French, but in world cinema, the Guignol Antoine takes his sister to see in François Truffaut's "The 400 Blows"/"Les Quatre cent coups." Transfixed children and transfixed film spectators.
7
One of the joys of being in Paris was the puppet shows for little children. Don't spread this around as these lovely places will be ruined by tourists!!! There is nothing so wonderful as listening to the squeals of laughter, and the little kids shouting out to the hapless clown that he is about to be knocked on the head. With all the kids in front, and all the parents in back they get to act , and shout, and scream, and laugh without ANY rules but their own feelings....I will never forget it. Jean Louis Bourrault where are you now? We need you more than ever!!!
16
Guignol, you're Grand.
When, aged twelve, I watched old reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club, I wanted to ... marry Annette.
When I found out that I could not, I shed puppet tears.
See also, from the Times the other day, the obituary for Maria Perego, creator of another iconic puppet, Topo Gigio, of Ed Sullivan fame.
5
Oh, les guignols de France! Like Punch and Judy, traditionally very violent, yet full of magic. There is also a long tradition of puppet theater still alive in Palermo, Sicily. Took the family to see a performance there this summer and it is still violent, still magic, still handed down from fathers to sons and daughters... and uses a different type of puppet than the French. PS: how can even a puppeteer born in 1948 now be 83 years old?
11
"iPhones were stowed and forgotten as they faced a miniature stage with red velvet curtains and posters of colorfully costumed French marionettes."
Ah, but what about people with Android phones (of which there are many more than iPhones)? Or have you decided that "iPhone" is now the generic name for all kinds of smartphones?
3
This evokes the sweet memories of taking my young US born and raised children to Guignol shows at the Luxembourg Gardens every time I took them to France to visit their relatives there. It was always a highlight of their stay. I just forwarded the article to them. Thanks for the article. The narrative and photos are wonderful.
19
The last photograph in this article, "Backstage at the Theatre des Marionnettes du Luxembourg," shows a row of puppets. One of these puppets is different than the rest: he has a large hooked nose, bulging eyes, 5 o'clock shadow and some sort of headpiece . I would like to know who he represents and how he is used in the show.
Yes, I am concerned about stereotypical characters that are used to spread hate. I hope I am wrong.
4
@marmar He looks like a king to me.
3
@marmar i do believe he's wearing a crown and has a beard and represents a king. if you think his nose is large, you must never have seen a puppet of Mr. Punch.
6
@marmar
I highly doubt there is any antisemitism in Guignol today.
But you pose an important question, there might have been in the 19th century and early 20th.
In general, this kind of puppetry uses caricatures and stereotypes of the different groups it represents (women, the bourgeois, the police... etc). A strick PC police could probably find ways to feel offended for any of those groups. In my experience, people of all kinds leave the theatre with a smile.
5
The article says Francis-Claude is 83 and also says he was born in 1948. Is he 83 or 71?
6
It took a long time for this article to mention Lyon, the true birthplace and original success of Guignol! This is cultural appropriation by the Parisians!
13
@PJ Brun Agreed. The marionnette museum in Lyon should have been mentioned, too.
7
What a pleasure to read this article! We are francophiles and have a framed print of the Théâtre Guignol in our sitting room. Now we have a full history of Guignol thanks to Ms. Alderman.
14
Great article! And great notice of a 'small' aspect of Paris life, that really suggests a wonderful aspect of life there! Thanks!
Perhaps we could use more "guignol ," more Punch & Judy-style street puppet theater, and less being locked into adds and our electronic devices?
I remember seeing wonderful some small versions of puppet theater in some little towns in Hungary a number of years ago. People were doing small puppet shows get the attention of passers-by and advertise the (great) hand-puppets they were selling (hand-made by them, I think)--each unbelievably cute and using puppets and puppet-characters we'd never seen before. Apart from loving the puppets, we loved that they weren't knock-offs of Disney, etc. I wonder if that's still the case?
2
And the tradition- on, alas, a much smaller scale- is alive in the US. Hence the universal appeal of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Not quite the same from the other side of a TV screen. But alive.
At the puppet theatre in Lyon, I so wished that my grandchildren were with me.
5
Love the story, and my kids love puppetry, just a like I did (and still do) when I was a child. It brings fond memories.
9
Just a note as to the usage of the word guignol.
While the etymology of the word may be from a proper noun, in French the word means « puppet theatre ». A guignol is a theatre. We say « aller au gignol » (=To go to the puppet theater). See the Larousse dictionary.
5
Just a note as to the usage of the word « guignol ». In France, the word is usually used to mean the puppet theater rather than a character by that name. You go « au guignol » (= to a puppet show).
8
I was fortunate to be an army brat, spending a good portion of my life in France and Germany both having a rich tradition in story telling through puppets. Fast forward many many years, when I taught high school. I was supported by the Board of Education and parents and administration as my high school became one of the few in the United States with a full fledged puppetry program. Students not only wrote the scripts, but made the puppets and performed for a variety of venues and competitions. Our first competition in the drama "category" had the judges speechless, not knowing what exactly they were looking at. (Heavy metal puppets performing, what a hoot). We won that category. Lest academics shake their heads at the usefulness of puppetry, in the end students learned skills that required problem solving, coordination within the group, working in a very tight space, performing in front of audiences without actually "seeing" your audience, and taking critiques readily. One of my students auditioned and got into the prestigious Puppetry Department at University of Connecticut, which incidentally accepted few students, and those accepted represented the best from around the world. Puppetry is an art form still practiced today and enjoyed by children and adults alike. Think Lion King, King Kong, War Horse, Shrek, Avenue Q, all Broadway plays with puppets.
32
I was very fortunate as a child that my mother liked to take me and my friends to our local children's theater.
There's something magical in seeing a story come to life 'in the flesh'.....rather than on 'screens'.
I've been a theater goer for 40 years now.
Any other opinions?
15
@Kenneth Johnson Took my 5 year old to a slyly comic production of Cinderella and I remember when the curtains opened she drew in her breath and said "They're REAL!". The wonder in her voice was sublime.
23