Guignol Et Le Concours De Coups De Bâton - Théâtre La Maison De Guignol, Lyon

A heritage stage welcomes a fresh burst of mischief

At THEATRE LA MAISON DE GUIGNOL, we are delighted to welcome families, curious travelers, and devoted Lyonnais to a new escapade with the city’s most beloved trickster: Guignol et le concours de coups de bâton. From our vantage point in the heart of Vieux Lyon, we steward a living tradition where craft, humor, and local character meet. This production draws on everything audiences cherish about Guignol: quick wit, spirited repartee, and a sense of justice dispensed with good humor and a nimble baton. The “concours” at the center of the story provides a playful framework for escalating gags and ingenious reversals, while keeping the stakes firmly rooted in Guignol’s timeless concern for fairness and friendship. As a venue, we prize work that invites call-and-response, that tempts children to call out warnings, and that rewards adults with sly asides, and this show is engineered to deliver exactly that. You will find the rhythm infectious, the pacing agile, and the puppeteers’ timing as precise as the clicks of a well-tuned marotte on the palm.

About the production at THEATRE LA MAISON DE GUIGNOL

Our stage has been fashioned to give Guignol’s world the intimate scale it deserves: painted flats that evoke the courtyards and traboules of Lyon, doorways sized for surprise entrances, and a proscenium that focuses attention on the snap and sway of each wooden character. In Guignol et le concours de coups de bâton, the décor shifts with a speed that mirrors the protagonist’s resourcefulness, carrying spectators from a bustling square to a makeshift arena worthy of a contest. The core of the experience is the choreography of slapstick—well-measured, safe, and uproarious—yet the show never forgets its heart. We hear echoes of everyday Lyon, from the banter that hints at canut heritage to the neighborly values that underpin Guignol’s pranks. Children laugh at the gentle chaos of a baton that seems to have its own mind; adults savor the layers of social mockery and contradictory rules that the “contest” inevitably exposes. As a house, we work closely with the troupe to ensure the text snaps, the cues land, and every aside is audible, so the audience can ride the waves of laughter that crest when Guignol turns the tables on bluster and bad faith.

Presenting this title is also part of our broader artistic momentum at THEATRE LA MAISON DE GUIGNOL. Season after season, we champion new scripts and revivals that honor tradition while speaking directly to contemporary family audiences. Our programming balances the beloved characters—Guignol, Gnafron, and their circle—with fresh situations that prompt participation, empathy, and delighted outbursts from the stalls. With Guignol et le concours de coups de bâton, we spotlight the virtuosic puppeteering that makes a hand-carved face read as vividly as any human performance, and we reaffirm our commitment to intergenerational theatre where grandparents, parents, and children share the same jokes from different angles. Beyond the stage, we regularly host school groups, introduce young spectators to the mechanics of glove puppetry, and sustain local collaborations that keep this living art rooted in our neighborhood. When you step into our theatre, you step into a centuries-old conversation—one that continues today with a contest that is really a celebration: of rhythm, resourcefulness, and the enduring pleasure of seeing Guignol stand up, quite literally, for the little guy.