Grand Guignolers

BIENVENUE: Since 2007, the Los Angeles based Grand Guignolers have created original event-like productions combining traditional physical theatre genres in new ways: Commedia Dell’Arte, mime, mask, melodrama, clown, dance, puppetry, magic, and Grand Guignol. The theatrical frame extends beyond the stage, casting the audience in the experience, fictionalizing the company as a 1920s Parisian theatre troupe. After its first production, the Grand Guignolers joined the first LA Physical Theatre Festival with A Very Grand Guignol Christmas. They followed with A Grand Guignol Children’s Show*(*NOT For Children) that celebrated the French children’s puppet Guignol’s 200th birthday and explored old classic folk tales for a grown-up audience. Absinthe, Opium and Magic: 1920s Shanghai, took patrons on a cruise to Shanghai in 1920s and was remounted at The Actors’ Gang, by invitation. The Guignolers were invited to perform at the LA Drama Critic’s Circle award ceremony upon receiving an honorary award for Special Effects. The Guignolers have also been invited to perform at Cal State Summer School for the Arts, at Pasadena Playhouse’s Cirque-a-Palooza with classic Grand Guignol and most recently at the Los Angeles Central Library’s Mark Taper Auditorium for a reading of a work in development, a new play based on Victor Hugo’s, The Man Who Laughs. Member: LA Stage Alliance, Network of Ensemble Theatres, TCG, Alliance Française and The French Historical Society. They have and earned critical acclaim (LA Weekly GO, LA Times Critic’s Choice, Ovation Recommended) and have extended and sold out all productions.