Cie Houdart-Heuclin

• 1964
• France

Object, figure, puppet, raw material, device. Exorcising fears, parodying people and society, playing on our minds and playing with our minds. Dark theatre inspired by illustrious forebears such as Bunraku, Marivaux, Lépinois, Monteverdi, Globokar etc.
The Company’s work explores the outer limits of the theatrical field, using the voice of Jeanne Heuclin and the prowess of the handlers to exhume all sorts of shadows, fantasies and dormant sentries from the depths of our collective memories.
The company is particularly specialised in the use of “object-signifiers”, animated forms which serve as an extension of the actors, fundamentally theatrical symbols in the service of the text, instruments of theatrical celebration. Their work draws upon a vast spectrum of techniques, evolving to fit the demands of each new show: visible puppeteering, theatre of darkness, shadow play and a wealth of techniques derived from the theatrical traditions of the Far East, including Japanese Bunraku and Chinese puppets. The vocal stylings of Jeanne Heuclin occupy a unique place in this theatrical mindscape. The company prefers to define its work not as puppetry, but rather as “theatre of figures” (from the Latin figura = representation).
Their approach to performance is founded on four main pillars: the classical repertoire, historical theatre, musical theatre and contemporary writers, particularly Gérard Lepinois.