James Thierrée (France/Switzerland) is a prominent acrobat, musician, dancer, actor, mime and choreographer. At Stora Teatern he will present an exclusive Scandinavian premiere of his latest piece La grenouille avait raison, which roughly translates to The frog knew why.

Six dancers, one of them also being a singer, takes the stage in this dark family drama that could be described as a mysterious and surreal performance about a couple of siblings and their shared lives. We meet children playing in the confines of a basement, a housekeeper named Marabout, an intelligent mother and a father that blends into the scenery. In La grenouille avait raison Thierrée treats us to an imaginative and mysterious journey into his magical universe.

The circus artist James Thierrée comes from a theatre and circus heritage like no other – he is the son of circus artists Victoria Chaplin and Jean-Baptiste Thierrée. He grew up amongst magical wardrobes, unicycles and poultry and was only four years old when he took to the stage for the first time, as part of his parents contemporary circus company Le Cirque Invisible in 1970’s France.

He has been a key name in circus and theatre for a long time. In 1998, at the age of 24, he founded the company la Compagnie du Hanneton and has since created several pieces that have been massively influential in contemporary performing arts. One of the red threads in his works is that they are often both large scale and dream like.

Thierrée himself is often asked about his influential heritage. Above all, he says, he has learned the value of hard work, a lesson learned from his constantly touring parents. In The Guardian he stated that any comparison to his parents is more than ok, as long as it doesn’t steal any focus from his own work: ”What I’m really concerned about is that when people sit in the theatre for one of my shows they might have a little chat about [my background] but then I want them to forget about the bloody thing – and just experience the magic of what is happening that night”.

Magic is the understatement of the year in this case. We are proud to present the next chapter of the tale of the world renowned Thierrée.

During the festival we will also be showing a film where Thierrée plays one of the lead roles. The film Chocolat (2016) tells the true story of Rafael Padilla aka Chocolat, the first black circus artists during the early 1900’s. Chocolat is shown on August 20, 15:30 at Bio Roy.

WITH

James Thierrée
Valérie Doucet, artist
Mariama, singer
Yann Nedelec, actor
Thi Mai Nguyen, dancer
Samuel Dutertre, stage assistant

Scenography and music: James Thierrée
Costume: Pascaline Chavanne
Animal design: Victoria Thierrée
Lighting: James Thiérrée & Alex Hardellet
Sound: Thomas Delot
Stage directors: Anthony Nicolas, Fabrice Henches, Samuel Dutertre
Direction assitance: Pénélope Biessy, Sidonie Pigeon
Scenography assistant: Laura Léonard
Construction: Anthony Nicolas, Fabrice Henches, Thomas Delot, Matthieu Bony
Manufacturing and props: Patrick Lebreton, Camille Joste, Marie Rossetti, Sabine Schlemmer, Monika Schwarzl
Production och coordination: Emmanuelle Taccard, Sidonie Pigeon

Thanks to: Claire Acquart, Marc Benamou, la Chaufferie à Saint Denis,
Mandarin Cinéma, Maud Heintz, Daniel Occely Dec, Yamaha France
Produktion La Compagnie du Hanneton/Junebug

In collaboration with:
Théâtre de Carouge-Atelier de Genève
Célestins-Théâtre de Lyon
Sadlers Wells London in association with Crying Out Loud
Théâtre Royal de Namur

During the festival we also show a movie starring James Thierrée. Chocolat (2016) tells the true story of Rafael Padilla, the first black circus artist in France. August 20 at 15.30, Bio Roy.