Guignol Et Les Trois Dragons - Théâtre La Maison De Guignol, Lyon

At THEATRE LA MAISON DE GUIGNOL: a living tradition in the heart of Lyon

From our stage here at THEATRE LA MAISON DE GUIGNOL, we are proud to carry the city’s emblematic puppet into new adventures while honoring the craft that made him a Lyonnais icon. Guignol’s wit, courage, and unmistakable sense of justice remain the beating heart of our programming, and each season we invite audiences to discover fresh stories shaped by master puppeteers, inventive scenography, and music performed with the same playful energy that animates the characters. Our current artistic momentum focuses on renewing classic techniques—hand-carved figures, agile manipulation, and rhythmic dialogue—with contemporary staging, detailed sound design, and lighting palettes that paint our compact stage with surprising scale. Families, school groups, and curious travelers fill our auditorium to experience a performance tradition born in Lyon and continuously reinvented by our in-house team. Whether you are revisiting the hero you grew up with or meeting him for the first time, our aim is to keep the intimacy, humor, and spontaneous audience exchange that define a true Guignol show, right here where it belongs.

Guignol et les Trois Dragons at our stage

In Guignol et les Trois Dragons, the puppets take flight—sometimes quite literally—through a mischievous fable that pits resourcefulness and friendship against larger-than-life creatures. The story unfolds with the brisk rhythm and verbal sparkle our spectators expect: call-and-response moments that invite children to warn the hero, quick-witted asides for adults, and a cascade of visual gags that make the youngest laugh while nodding to long-time aficionados of Lyon’s puppet lore. Our team has crafted a scenic world of shimmering scales, hidden trapdoors, and playful transformations, so that each dragon reveals a different facet of the tale—comic bluster, tender vulnerability, or daring challenge. Percussive accents and melodic motifs underscore the action, while precise manipulation keeps Guignol nimble as he navigates daunting obstacles with his trademark blend of pluck and solidarity. Without giving away the surprises, expect a journey that celebrates neighborhood camaraderie, clever problem-solving, and the joy of collective storytelling. Within the intimate contours of THEATRE LA MAISON DE GUIGNOL, the proximity between stage and seats magnifies every glance, gesture, and punchline, letting audiences feel the live electricity of the puppeteers at work.

As a venue, we continue to expand the artistic world around Guignol with new fabrications from our workshop, refreshed costumes that honor traditional cuts and colors, and original music cues composed to match the cadence of our dialogues. This season’s calendar balances festive weekend performances for families with sessions designed for schools and community groups, and our creative team regularly hosts encounters that reveal how a wooden figure springs to life through voice, rhythm, and breath. For visitors, the experience at THEATRE LA MAISON DE GUIGNOL begins the moment you step into our historic neighborhood: a short stroll brings you to our doors, where our front-of-house team guides you to seats with clear sightlines ideal for little ones and grown-ups alike. Guignol et les Trois Dragons embodies our commitment to intergenerational theater—compact, dynamic, and full of heart—crafted for audiences of all ages. If you are planning a cultural outing in Lyon, this production offers a vivid entry point into a living heritage art form, performed with the immediacy and warmth that only a small, dedicated house like ours can provide.