Director: Lucas Franceschi
Music: St¨¦phane Lam
Actor: Fr¨¦d¨¦ric Tessier
Bilingual play (french and chinese)
Produced by the Asphod¨¨les Theatre
With the support of Alliance Francaise in China and CULTURESFRANCE
And Rhone Department, Italien Cultural Center, Rhone-Alpes Department, and the city of Lyon
In cooperation with General French Consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and the French May Festival in Hong-Kong
Actors, narrators, musicians and acrobats : masters of colourful dreams of all shapes and sizes take us on a journey from Venice to Beijing, inviting us to savour a story of love and revenge, of passion and jealousy ; this impossible love story concerns an emperor¡¯s daughter and the son of a venetian merchant. It is through plots and duels, love songs and relentless dances ; by multiple disguises and Italian farce that we see the breaking down of cultural barriers and language, and that in the end love conquers all.
Asphod¨¨les Theater Company
The Asphod¨¨les theater company has a reputation for originality by creating modern versions of Italian commedia dell'arte which balance perfectly the ancient with the modern. The companies repertoire now extends to twelve different pieces and a total of over one thousand performances, across many countries. Recognised as one of the foremost european companies specialising in the Commedia dell¡¯arte, the Asphod¨¨les theater company is now one of Lyon¡¯s most famous cultural references. The company benefits from huge public support as well as from it¡¯s institutional sponsors.
La commedia dell'arte
Appeared first in the 16th century, and means "professional performance", the expression of "art" through knowledge and know ¨Chow. It¡¯s theater in code, featuring stereotypical characters, stylised attitudes, physical posturing and human psychology : a very visual portrayal that needs no words to be understood.. Based entirely on the actors, it demands intense training, as well as producers that are able to mix together burlesque, acrobatics and spectacular characters. Here the performers offer us a confrontation between Peking Opera and commedia dell¡¯arte.
Lucas Franceschi, Director
An Italian, he trained at the "Marcel Marceau" international school of Mime and Drama in Paris, he then joined the Scalzani theater company, and acted alongside the actor Carlo Boso at the Tag Teatro in Venice. Since 1998 he has taught, directed and acted in many different international theaters.
St¨¦phane Lam, author and composer
A composer for theater, film and television, he has worked for many different companies and directors in France and internationally. His compositions are influenced by classical, pop, rock and world music.
Fr¨¦d¨¦ric Tessier, actor
After studying Drama at the Lyon coservatory, he undertook a directing placement for several months in Lithuania. On his return to France he started a career as an actor and director. His spectacles have toured around the world (Japan, USA, Canada, Germany, Lithuania, Spani and Poland). For the last ten years he has collaborated with the Asphod¨¨les theater company on many different projects.