#EnsembleAuSpectacle: Theaters Are Closed, But the Show Goes on With Facebook

Paris Opera Ballet productions were presented during a special paid performance on Facebook last November, and now you can go to the Théâtre Rive Gauche in Paris on January 17 at 3:30PM, for a unique performance of the play Le Petit Coiffeur, by Jean-Philippe Daguerre.

Although the arts were plunged into crisis with the continued closure of theaters, the Théâtre Rive Gauche rallied to continue its activities and offer its audience this play, which was only able to be shown for a few weeks before it was indefinitely suspended last October 30. The theater and the company are offering Facebook users a unique, up-close and interactive experience with the artists and the playwright through the Paid Online Events function on Facebook.

‘Le Petit Coiffeur,’ Jean-Philippe Daguerre’s New Play

Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (Artistic Director of the Théâtre Rive Gauche), Jean-Philippe Daguerre (writer and director), as well as actors Félix Beauperin, Arnaud Dupont, Brigitte Faure, Romain Lagarde and Charlotte Matzneff, and the whole theater team give you an opportunity to bring this play to life once again on Facebook. A cross between a dramatic comedy and a historical play, this 1 hour and 20 minute contemporary work was written by Jean-Philippe Daguerre. He is the writer of more than thirty plays, including “Adieu Monsieur Haffmann” (“Farewell Mister Haffmann”), which received the Barrière Foundation prize and 4 Molière Awards in 2018. The play’s text was also published as a book by the Albin Michel publishing house.

In “Le Petit Coiffeur,” Chartres has just been liberated from the German Occupation in August 1944. In the Giraud family, hairdressing is passed down from father to son, so Pierre has to take over the men’s hair salon from his father, who died in a labor camp a year earlier. His mother, Marie, a heroine of the French Resistance, is in charge of the women’s salon, but also refers some clients to her son in order to participate in a very specific activity. Everything is going well, until Lise enters their lives.

Daguerre was inspired to write this play when he saw “La Tondue de Chartres” (“The Shaved Woman of Chartres”), a famous photo taken by Robert Capa on the streets of Chartres, showing a woman whose head was shaved during the Liberation carrying her three-month-old baby. He imagined the fictional story of a young hairdresser who had to shave this woman’s head against his will. The writer sought to find a poetic approach to this tragic story in order to evoke smiles and even laughter.

“I would like to thank Facebook from the bottom of my heart for letting us show ‘Le Petit Coiffeur’ during a special live session at the Théâtre Rive Gauche. The performance will have a special meaning in this time of cultural drought, since we don’t know when the next one will be. You can imagine how badly we wanted to get back on stage to share our excitement for this occasion with our Facebook audience. Long live theater!”
— Writer/Director Jean-Philippe Daguerre

 

“In spite of the ongoing closure of theaters, the Théâtre Rive Gauche wants to stay connected to the public, and so we are offering a special live Facebook broadcast of the play ‘Le Petit Coiffeur’ from Paris. It opened to great critical acclaim in October and was tremendously successful with the audience. Then the curtain suddenly closed. We’ll be back as soon as possible but now the journey continues! Actors, technicians and stage managers are ready to revive the live performance Sunday on Facebook.”
— Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Artistic Director of the Théâtre Rive Gauche

Buy Your Ticket and Explore Backstage on Facebook

People can follow these steps to access the paid online event on Facebook:

Before and after the performance, the audience will be able to go behind the scenes of the theater and explore the preparations for this special event with  Daguerre. They can also interact with the writer and director, as well as the actors during a question-and-answer session at the end of the performance.

All proceeds from this performance will go to the Théâtre Rive Gauche and Facebook will not receive any payment.

#EnsembleAuSpectacle Initiative Supports Cultural Organizations

“The arts have been going through an incredibly difficult time for almost a year, and we have a duty to provide support by allowing actors to sustain economic activities using our tools. We are delighted that the Théâtre Rive Gauche and the Petit Coiffeur company are coming together today to present their play to the public in a different way using the paid online events Facebook function.”
— Edouard Braud, Director of Entertainment Partnerships for France and Southern Europe at Facebook

The world of culture and performing arts has successfully maintained its connection to the public through the #EnsembleÀLaMaison (#TogetherAtHome) initiative launched by Facebook in 2020 during the first lockdown. Cultural organizations need to continue generating revenue now more than ever. That is why Facebook developed the Paid Online Events function in the summer of 2020, allowing artists, creators, businesses and media organizations to get paid through Facebook by creating an event, setting a price, promoting the event and collecting payment all in one place.