Emma Utgès is director of the Le Guignol theater in Lyon and of the MA company. She was on the set of the Lyon Capitale show “6 Minutes Chrono” on the occasion of the reopening of the Palais Bondy where the premises of Le Guignol de Lyon, after 18 months of renovation work for this historic site of the city.
The puppeteer explains: “We had a great reopening evening with the public, puppet people, the teams we work with, the institutions and we relaunched the season with a show for the general public “The Armistice According to Guignol” which we taken up again because the armistice, peace, are notions that we want at the moment. The City's work consisted, for our premises, essentially of bringing the smoke extraction flow back up to standard. This is important because if the smoke extraction flow is not up to standard, we cannot accommodate the public. Then we also took charge of some renovation work, improvement on several technical points, most of which are technical.“
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She also recalls: “There is also a concert hall which is very famous for its acoustics, which is the Salle Molière. Pianists love it, because the sound is indeed perfect. There are also the city's exhibition halls, then another concert hall which is much smaller, and there is also all the mastery of the opera, that is to say the children who sing for the opera.“
Read also: Lyon saga: The fabulous story of Guignol, the (still) living soul of Lyon
For the Christmas holidays, the MA company plans the following programming: “For the end of the year, at Christmas, from December 7, we are going to reprise one of our creations: “Guignol et Mama Swing”, which is a show that we created at Christmas, a few years ago, which we really like it, which is a show that both talks about jazz and discrimination, we make a lot of nods to the African-American struggle, precisely through jazz. So Mama Swing arrives in Lyon, Guignol loves Mama Swing and her voice, and she is exploited by the terrible Fripouille who has been Guignol's sworn enemy in our country for a long time, and therefore inevitably Guignol and Gnafron will help Mama Swing, and Mama Swing is accompanied by musicians.“
More details on the history of Guignol and the Palais Bondy in the video…
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The complete transcription of the show with Emma Utgès:
Hello everyone, welcome to the show 6 minutes flat, the daily meeting of the editorial staff of Lyon Capitale, today we are going to talk about Lyon heritage and for this we welcome Emma Utgès who is director of the Le Guignol theater in Lyon and from the MA company Hello Emma Utgès. So we welcome you on the occasion of the reopening of the Palais Bondy on the quays of the Saône near Saint-Paul station after 18 months of renovation work for an amount of 2.5 million euros. Your company presents Guignol shows in this Bondy palace. First of all, can you tell us how Guignol's return to these walls went. Did your return to school go well after 18 months of closure?
So the return went well. We had a great reopening evening with the public, puppet people, the teams we work with, the institutions and we relaunched the season with a show for the general public “The Armistice According to Guignol” which we taken up again because the armistice, peace, are notions that we want at the moment. The City's work consisted, for our premises, essentially of bringing the smoke extraction flow back up to standard. This is important because if the smoke extraction flow is not up to standard, we cannot accommodate the public. Then we also took charge of some renovation work, improvement on several technical points, most of which are technical.
Mainly the work was the renovation and safety standards, simply can we rebuild the link between Guignol and the Palais Bondy. Guignol has been working in its premises for a number of years, not you personally, but can you reconnect the two for us?
So before being in the Bondy palace, it was the Gymnase theater which belonged to the Neichthauser family, which was a private theater.
And who were the descendants of Laurent Mourguet, Guignol's father?
Who were the descendants, then each time by marriage. These are the girls who kept the line of puppeteers and the Guignol theater alive, at least on the Mourguet side. This is the continuation of this theater, the gymnasium. In 1966, the city moved the Neichthausers to the basements of the Palais Bondy, which at the time was the city conservatory, and in the basements were the conservatory's coal reserves. From 1966, they installed the Guignol des Neichthauser here. It was supposed to be temporary, but the proof is still there, and it's been 68 years. Afterwards, I wasn't there 68 years ago.
Yes of course, in any case it's interesting, you are the branch, the official descendants of Laurent Mourguet, the founder, the creator, the father in fact of Guignol. It's actually you today on the branch, after descendants, so if you want to find the authentic Guignol, official of the creator, even if there are as many Guignols as there are puppeteers, we know that well, we can meet you at the Palais Bondy. Simply put, what else can we see in this Bondy palace? I think there is the Guignol in the old coal cellars, but above there are other things for the people of Lyon to see?
There is also a concert hall which is very famous for its acoustics, which is the Salle Molière. Pianists love it, because the sound is indeed perfect. There are also the city's exhibition halls, then another concert hall which is much smaller, and there is also all the mastery of the opera, that is to say the children who sing for the opera.
And can you also tell us now, we are just going to close the sequence on the renovation, also now talk about the prospects, particularly for you, of your programming. You said a word earlier about a show, is there a show not to be missed at the end of the year? I believe you have prepared something?
For the end of the year, at Christmas, from December 7, we are going to reprise one of our creations: “Guignol et Mama Swing”, which is a show that we created at Christmas, a few years ago, which we really like it, which is a show that both talks about jazz and discrimination, we make a lot of nods to the African-American struggle, precisely through jazz. So Mama Swing arrives in Lyon, Guignol loves Mama Swing and her voice, and she is exploited by the terrible Fripouille who has been Guignol's sworn enemy in our country for a long time, and therefore inevitably Guignol and Gnafron will help Mama Swing, and Mama Swing is accompanied by musicians.
And I think you came with a character from this story, can you introduce her to us?
(continued in the video)
