Johanny Bert - Théâtre de Romette (France)

Johanny Bert's new show takes a sensitive and humorous look at the plurality of our sexual and amorous practices, inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's play La Ronde - Merry-go-Round, which was censored in 1897 for its approach to erotic relationships. Yann Verburgh has completely rewritten the work, based on the original structure: interwoven stories of intimate encounters.

The hyper-realistic puppets are manipulated in full view by a team of young actors, who end up becoming a single living entity with their latex puppets. The diversity of the bodies is intended to reflect the plurality of beings and lives, brought together in this mosaic of powerful and moving stories. The choral and cinematographic staging allows us to move from one encounter to the next, revealing what unites us in our differences: love, quite simply.

After the success of HEN, in which Johanny Bert swept audiences off their feet with his furious and virile diva-puppet in a show in the style of a 1930s Berlin cabaret fused with the queer scene (and presented at FIMFA Lx22), it's no surprise that the master of de-gendered queer puppetry has now taken inspiration from Arthur Schnitzler's censored play and takes the lovers of the play into a joyful, sensual, contemporary circle dance.

Johanny Bert continues to explore sexual identities in a series of love encounters that leave the field open to all love possibilities: bisexual, polyamorous, asexual and transgender… all free in words and action. In this waltz of love, couples are made and unmade between the characters of this La (Nouvelle) Ronde of different ages.

^{"This contemporary merry-go-round of new ways of loving, accompanied by the vibrant guitarist Fanny Lasfargues, displays unrivalled aesthetic strength, with puppets whose texture is reminiscent of the bodies painted by Lucian Freud, and a technical mastery that definitively establishes Johanny Bert as the most inventive and daring puppeteer of his generation. His work is political, poetic and funny." - Thierry Voisin, Télérama}

^{"Here, it is the puppet that questions man's sexuality and, more broadly, his identity (...). This (nouvelle) ronde is a delight to watch, with its formal inventions (...). Everything in this play glides with an elegant fluidity, from the scenography to sexual identity and love (...). It's a delight, a great dance of love and freedom." - Anaïs Heluin, sceneweb.fr}

^{"Celebrating love in all its forms, the show is not only extraordinarily hilarious, but also admirably politically intelligent and extremely inventive (...). With this new creation, Johanny Bert has reached a level that places him among the most outstanding young directors on the French scene." - Bruno Deruisseau, Les Inrocks}

^{"As delicious as it is political (...). Sharp wit and devastating humour (...). A visual, scenic and puppetry delight. This tantalizing proposal is served up by a formally masterful show, full of good ideas (...), used with great efficiency and skill. The puppets are obviously the center of attention. They are of unrivalled perfection (...). From a visual point of view, they are a total success, and the fluidity with which they are manipulated also reflects an excellent mastery of their construction as instruments of performance (...). In conclusion, La (Nouvelle) Ronde is an extremely intelligent show, very well written and supported by a cast of talented young actors (...). A utopian show whose motto could be: 'If we have the courage to be ourselves, we can change the world'. A beautiful aphorism for a work that invites us to accept that love reinvents itself." - Mathieu Dochtermann, Toute la Culture}

BIO

Johanny Bert is an actor, puppeteer and director. Throughout his artistic career he has developed a unique theatrical language: the confrontation between an actor, an object and the puppetry form. Each creation is a new research project, based on contemporary texts (commissions, unpublished texts or repertoire texts) or from a visual universe built as a team on stage. He enjoys working with performers from different disciplines (actors, dancers, singers, musicians, etc.). Certain dramaturgies guide him towards a dialogue between the human and the inanimate, as in the puppetry arts, but he doesn't want to be limited to one category: theatre for young audiences, visual theatre, puppet theatre... and he creates by intuition, with a form of insolent freedom, guided by a subject or goal.

He founded the company Théâtre de Romette in 2000, an experimental space for creation. Between 2012 and 2015, Bert directed the Centre Dramatique National de Montluçon – Le Fracas, after which he decided to return to stage direction. He was an associate artist at Clermont-Ferrand from 2016 to 2018 and at Bateau Feu - Scène Nationale de Dunkerque from 2018 to 2021.

His most recent productions include La (Nouvelle) Ronde, premiered at the Théâtre de la Ville (2023), HEN (2019), presented at FIMFA Lx22, Le Petit Bain (2017) at the Théâtre Nouvelle Génération - CDN de Lyon and Dévaste-Moi (2017) with Emmanuelle Laborit in co-production with IVT - International Visual Theatre. In December 2023 he directed his first opera at the ONR Opéra National de Rhin, at the invitation of Alain Perroux, and staged The Magic Flute. In February he premiered the first stage of Fucking Eternity - Oratorio débridé pour un Ange, and he is preparing the second stage of this project for October 2024.

_CREDITS

_{Concept and direction: Johanny Bert Text: Commissioned to Yann Verburgh (except scene 6 - interviews written by the team) Dramaturgy: Olivia Burton Collaboration in staging: Philippe Rodriguez Jorda Performers: Yasmine Berthoin, Yohann-Hicham Boutahar, Rose Chaussavoine, George Cizeron, Enzo Dorr, Elise Martin Music and performer: Fanny Lasfargues Scenography: Amandine Livet, Aurélie Thomas Scenography construction: Atelier du ThéâtredelaCité, Fabrice Coudert Costumes: Pétronille Salomé, assisted by Manon Gesbert, Adèle Giard and trainees Manon Damez, Pauline Fleuret, Valentine Lê du TNS, Alice Louveau Puppets: Laurent Huet, Johanny Bert, assisted by Camille d’Alençon, Romain Duverne, Judith Dubois, Pierre Paul Jayne, Alexandra Leseur, Ivan Terpigorev, Benedicte Fey, Doriane Ayxandri, Franck Rarog and trainees Louise Bouley, Solène Hervé, Valentine Lê du TNS Lighting design: Gilles Richard Sound design: Tom Beauseigneur Technical direction: Camille Davy Stage direction: Pascal Bouvier Photography: Christophe Raynaud de Lage Administration, production: Le Petit Bureau, Virginie Hammel, Nora Fernezelyi Production: Théâtre de Romette Coproduction: Le Théâtre de la Croix Rousse, Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes de Charleville-Mézières, Le Bateau Feu - Scène Nationale de Dunkerque, Théâtre de la Ville - Paris, Malakoff Scène Nationale, Le Théâtre de la Cité - CDN Toulouse Occitanie, Le Sablier - Pôle des Arts de la Marionnette en Normandie, Le Sémaphore de Cébazat, Le Trident - Scène Nationale de Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. Show created after a residency at Théâtre de la Croix Rousse, October 2022 Support: Espace Périphérique (Mairie de Paris – Parc de la Villette), of the professional integration programme for Ensatt, Institut Internationale de la Marionnette – as part of the project to support the professional integration of ESNAM, École de la Comédie de Saint-Etienne - DIESE # Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The company is subsidized by DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Ville de Clermont-Ferrand. Théâtre de Romette is a company in residency at Malakoff Scène Nationale. Johanny Bert is accomplice artist to  Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse - Lyon}

_{www.theatrederomette.com}