Johanny Bert - Théâtre de Romette (France)

HEN is a unique puppet that cannot be confined to a single category. Their face and body are manifold: woman and man, feminine and masculine. A character bursting with life, exuberant, an enraged diva, virile in high heels, expressing through songs of love, hope, bodies, pleasure, and sexuality, with absolute freedom.

HEN returns in a more intimate setting—an itinerant cabaret format that speaks of love through new songs written specifically for this puppet, alongside a few covers. But can we truly trust a puppet made of foam and wood when it sings about love? Can it really know a feeling so fragile and universal? An unmissable, out-of-the-box experience, filled with sequins, plenty of glitter, and heart-shaped balloons. Let’s overflow with 'Love'!

FIMFA has been closely following Johanny Bert’s artistic journey. After the success of HEN and La (Nouvelle) Ronde, presented at Teatro São Luiz in 2024 with its hyper-realistic puppets, it is an immense pleasure to welcome this brand-new, magnetic version of HEN.

^{"HEN is a masterpiece, a high-heeled hit to the old world." - Amélie Niddam, Toute La Culture}

^{"Enchanting songs (...), a puppet both cheeky and tender, an original stage device: the whole piece sparks immediate seduction, thanks to this cabaret of curiosities, infinitely moving, raw and unadorned, which we long to listen to as much as we long to embrace." - Mariane de Douhet, i/o Gazette}

^{A modern-day diva, trashy and extravagant, HEN (...) sets the stage ablaze and invites us into a wild, trans, and seductive dance. Driven by the smooth and velvety voice of its creator Johanny Bert, this puppet (...) goes beyond gender, transgressing all codes. Warning: a favorite!" - Olivier Fregaville-Gratian d'Amore, L'Oeil d'Olivier}

^{"History repeats itself: it is cyclical, sometimes we have to fight again for rights that we thought we had acquired and yet we also have to move forward, claim others, invent, propose. That's exactly what Johanny Bert and his technical and artistic did with great art." - Hervé Ponse, Les Inrockuptibles}

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 Each creation is a new research project, based on contemporary texts (commissions, unpublished texts or repertoire texts) or from a visual universe built as a team on stage.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.

Among his most recent productions, highlights include La (Nouvelle) Ronde, which premiered at the Théâtre de la Ville (2023) and was presented at FIMFA Lx24, and HEN (2019), showcased at FIMFA Lx22. His next creation is scheduled for November 2026, focusing on the rise of a far-right movement within a community of garden gnomes: Amour, gloire et ciment (Love, Glory, and Cement).

_CREDITS

_{Concept and direction: Johanny Bert Puppeteers: Johanny Bert (voice of Hen), Lucile Beaune or Jonas Coutancier Musical arrangements and live musician: Cyrille Froger Songs autorship: Prunella Rivière, Laurent Madiot, Yumma Ornelle and covers of Brigitte Fontaine and other surprises Technical direction: Lucille Guilbert-Dumont Set construction: Jonas Coutancier Outside eye: Alexandra Vuillet Autonomous lighting: Nino Valette Puppets construction: Eduardo Felix Lifting eyes HEN : Laurent Huet Costume: Pétronille Salomé Jackets: Irène Jolivar Photography: Thomas D’Haese, Quévin Noguès, F.Ferranti - Just a Pics Administration, production and development: Le Petit Bureau - Virginie Hammel, Nora Fernezelyi Coproduction: Théâtre de Gascogne - Mont de Marsan, Sémaphore - Cébazat Support: Le Mett, CDN Rouen-Normandie, Théâtre au Fil de l'Eau - Ville de Pantin, La Cour Scène Vivante - Clermont-Ferrand. The company is subsidized by DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Ville de Clermont-Ferrand. Théâtre de Romette is a company in residency at Sémaphore - Cébazat. Johanny Bert is an associate artista at Théâtre de Gascogne - Mont-de-Marsan}

_{www.theatrederomette.com}