ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the three productions that turned the Théâtre du Soleil into the fulcrum of the French theatre world in the 1970s: 1789 or The Revolution Must Only Stop at the Perfection of Happiness (1789, ou la Révolution doit s’arréter à la perfection du bonheur, 1971); 1793 or The Revolutionary City is of This World (1793, ou la Cité révolutionnaire est de ce monde, 1972), and The Golden Age: First Draft (l’Âge d’or: première ébauche, 1975). Grandly documented with ample production shots, this chapter follows the difficult and complex creative processes for each collective creations – from 1789’s satirical take on the usual images of the French Revolution, through 1793’s search for individual profiles for the sans-culottes members of a revolutionary section in Paris, to The Golden Age’s shift to commedia dell’arte to find the archetypes which best represent the several crises facing 1970s France: immigrant labor, real estate speculation, capitalist exploitation. Particular emphasis is placed on the significant research carried out for these projects and on how the public is incorporated in production design. Parallel Soleil projects, more in the agit-prop vein and engaged with political issues of the time (the Vietnam War, prison reform) are highlighted.
