Mon Premier Guignol - Le Théâtre La Maison De Guignol, Lyon

Mon Premier Guignol at SALLE 2 - THEATRE MAISON DE GUIGNOL

From our stage at SALLE 2 - THEATRE MAISON DE GUIGNOL, we are delighted to welcome families, schools, and curious first-timers to Mon Premier Guignol, an invitation to meet the emblematic hero of Lyon’s puppet tradition in the most welcoming conditions. Our intimate second room is designed for proximity: every seat brings spectators close to the hand-carved puppets, the vibrant little stage, and the nimble artistry that animates Guignol’s world. Mon Premier Guignol is carefully crafted as a gateway experience—playful, rhythmic, and interactive—so that young audiences can respond to the characters, cheer the heroes, and laugh at the time-honored gags that have charmed generations. Without diluting the humor or the Lyonnais spirit, the show balances clarity of language, lively pace, and visual detail to make a first encounter both accessible and unforgettable. As guardians of this heritage, we honor Laurent Mourguet’s legacy while embracing a warm, contemporary sensibility that speaks to today’s families and their first theatre memories.

Inside the experience

Mon Premier Guignol introduces the essential cast of this universe—Guignol with his quick wit and good heart, the forthright Madelon, and the irrepressible Gnafron—through a sequence of scenes that unfold like a miniature adventure. The story favors simple stakes and big emotions: a misunderstanding in the neighborhood, a friend who needs a hand, a crafty trick that requires audience help to set right. Children are encouraged to call out, to warn Guignol when mischief lurks, and to applaud when justice lands with his famous sense of comic timing. Our staging highlights colorful décors, precise manipulation, and a musical thread of percussive cues that keep the action buoyant for little ones. Parents will recognize the sly social satire that has always given Guignol its bite, distilled here into bright, digestible moments. The duration is family-friendly and the atmosphere reassuring; lights, entrances, and transitions have been calibrated so that very young spectators can follow the story’s rhythm and feel safe participating. Above all, the show keeps the essential promise of a first Guignol: generosity, laughter, and the kind of shared theater experience that echoes all the way home.

As a living playhouse, SALLE 2 - THEATRE MAISON DE GUIGNOL carries a season-wide commitment to creation, revival, and transmission. Around Mon Premier Guignol, our artistic team continues to renew the repertoire with fresh writing that respects the codes of the castelet while inviting contemporary imagination. Recent seasons have showcased family favorites and new adventures for our wooden heroes, with titles exploring the neighborhood’s legends, playful mysteries, and the ever-resourceful spirit of Guignol facing rascals and tricksters. We pay particular attention to artisanal craft—new puppets sculpted in the workshop, repainted sets with Lyon’s colors, and precise glove techniques that keep the gesture alive and readable at close range. Throughout the year, we host regular weekend and holiday matinees, and when schedules align, brief post-show moments allow children to greet the characters from the edge of the stage and ask how a voice, a cane, or a hat creates such a big personality. Mon Premier Guignol sits at the heart of this momentum: a welcoming doorway into our house’s artistic life, a celebration of Lyon’s most famous stage figure, and an open invitation to return, again and again, to discover how Guignol and his friends reinvent themselves for today’s audiences.