#Theatre

Thursday 9 January 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
Whom do we love, when we love? Do we ever know who it is that's loved? Is shared love nothing more than a fortunate misunderstanding? These eternal mysteries around the meaning of love are the stage for a showdown between two men. Abel Znorko, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, has withdrawn to a hermit-like existence on an island off the north of Norway, with coke, alcohol and psychedelics his only companions. There, he constantly relives his passionate yearning for a woman with whom he has been corresponding for years. Erik Larsen is a journalist, who has asked for an interview as a pretext for meeting the author. But what is his hidden agenda? And how is he linked to the woman who Znorko claims still holds his heart? And just why has this bitter old misanthrope, with his dark glasses, silk robe and shotgun, agreed to receive him?

Friday 17 January 2025, at 8 pm, Grimaldi Forum Monaco
What happens when someone leaves without so much as a goodbye? That's what Julien did to Maud, and she cannot forgive him for it. He is a famous psychoanalyst and she a world renowned pianist. Together, they are going to have to take stock of their lives and their relationship. Amid anger and laughter, they take turns to confess their innermost secrets in one final attempt to find meaning in life. Tonight, they will either go their separate ways, or fall in love all over again. Tonight, they will remake their destiny.

Thursday 30 January 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
There are rabbits appearing all around us, even in the parks and gardens of our beloved capital. But where are they coming from? Is this the latest manifestation of climate change? A sign of inexorable evolution at work? Former geographer Frédéric Ferrer attempts to answer these huge questions in the seventh part of his series of partly tongue-in-cheek lectures, begun in 2010. Accompanied by comedian Hélène Schwartz, he plunges into an all-encompassing investigation, with diagrams, equations, medieval engravings, and cuddly toys. A caustic masterclass that's as entertaining as it is enlightening.

Thursday 23 January 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
Richard Berry explores four of the most momentous cases of the 20th century, through the speeches made by some of history's great lawyers: Maître Jakubowicz at the trial of Klaus Barbie for crimes against humanity. Maître Labori at the trial of Emile Zola and the Dreyfus Affair. Maître Dupin on the question of euthanasia. Maître Molteni, in a public speaking competition, on crimes of solidarity.

Thursday 20 February 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
They lived together for 20 years, but did they share the same experience? Valentine and Sam are having couples therapy. Sam would frankly rather be anywhere else. Valentine sees it as vital. She talks about their life, but Sam interjects: that was most certainly not how he remembers it! And so he starts to tell his side of the story. So... who's right, and who's wrong? You be the judge.

Tuesday 25 February 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
A delightfully dark and cruel comedy. André Bitos is a working class boy who grew up to become a state prosecutor, embarking on a reign of terror in the days following the liberation of France. Returning to his hometown in provincial France, he is invited by his old classmates - now members of high society - to a special dinner at which every guest is expected to come as a figure from the French Revolutionary. Bitos goes as Robespierre. But the evening is a trap. In a recreation of the revolutionary Terror and Purification, Bitos will be plied with drink before revealing the "Imposter" beneath the mask of the "Incorruptible", humiliating him and bringing his career to an ignominious end.

Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 March 2025, Grimaldi Forum Monaco
This show featuring real actors and puppets takes us aboard the Nautilus, Captain Nemo's legendary submarine resembling half sea monster, and half cutting edge technological wonder. All the famous characters from Jules Verne's classic novel are here, from Professor Aronnax and his loyal servant Conseil who, before becoming shipwrecked and being taken prisoner by Nemo, had gone hunting for the giant narwhal aboard the US Navy frigate Abraham Lincoln, alongside harpooner Ned Land. Captain Nemo, a true modern pirate, forces them to sail with him on a voyage across the world's oceans, where scientific experiments mingle with the poetry of the deep. The actors, accompanied by a troupe of fish, invite us to join them in an expedition to explore the classic literary masterpiece.

Thursday 6 March 2025, Théâtre Princesse Grace
Three close friends of more than fifteen years' standing suddenly find the foundations of their friendship shaken when Serge buys a whiteboard. “What are old friends? Friends who have known each other for a long time? Sure, but what else? When everything changes, when all is turned upside down, when movement is the only constant in our lives, what does an old friend look like? Because when all's said and done, can yesterday's friends still be friends today? What's a friend of 30 years? Perhaps someone perfectly unknown to us.” François Morel

Tuesday 11 March 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
“Richard III is without doubt a monument of dramatic tragedy. As in Othello or Macbeth, hubris reigns supreme, mocking its victims in both body and mind, inexorably culminating in a bloodbath. The thirst for vengeance, the hunger for power, the irresistible desire to eliminate all those who stand in one's way, the intimate relationship with fate, auguries magnified by ghostly apparitions, characters haunted by betrayal, and violent punishment all make up this maelstrom of poetry and fury.” William Mesguich

Tuesday 18 March 2025, at 8 pm, Grimaldi Forum Monaco
Can't Pay? Won't Pay! is one of the great contemporary comedies. A thought-provoking, satirical play, anchored in the social and political realities of the time by its writers Dario Fo and Franca Rame. This is a veritable dramatic "war machine", with a humorous style almost unique in contemporary theatre. The comedic mechanics of the play push into the territory of the absurd, all the better to showcase the human behaviours and dysfunctions of our western societies. This is the French language version.

Thursday 27 March 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
In this brilliant detective story, a woman has disappeared. Her husband, Daniel Corban reports his wife Elisabeth missing. When the village priest tells him he has found her, Daniel is dumbstruck. The woman claiming to be his wife... is not. More shocking still is the fact that, since they were only recently married, nobody else seems to know what Mme Corban looks like. This Mme Corban says her husband is suffering from amnesia. Has he gone mad, or is he the victim of some diabolical scheme? A debonair police commissioner takes charge of the investigation...

Tuesday 1 April 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
Théophile is a successful author who's hit a slump. He regains his mojo with a short, poetic tale on an aquatic theme. But disaster strikes when his aghast loved ones read it, as they see themselves in the characters, findings hidden messages in the depictions of sea urchins, octopuses, and other denizens of the deep. Tonight, they come together for what promises to be an eventful dinner, where scores will be settled.

Tuesday 8 April 2025, at 8 pm, Théâtre Princesse Grace
Issa, a young Eritrean left for dead in the Calais "jungle", has lost his memory. The only tangible trace of his past is his passport. He embarks on a long and pitfall-ridden quest to secure a residence permit, surrounded by others who have found themselves in equally desperate circumstances.

Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 April 2025, Théâtre Princesse Grace
With its themes of rebelling against conformity, self-discovery, and finding ones hidden depths, Dead Poets Society remains strikingly topical even three decades after its successful cinema release. Keating, a charismatic teacher with unorthodox methods, teaches his students about freedom, confidence, and faith in a future shaped by our own choices. Starring a superb Stéphane Freiss in the role of the free-spirited teacher and a fine cast of young actors, Dead Poets Society leaves us with a universal lesson that remains as precious as it ever was: carpe diem!

Thursday 8 May 2025, Théâtre Princesse Grace
Starring the comedian, actor, and professional stage Marie Fortuit accompanied by pianist Lucie Sansen, this musical recounts the story of how Anne Sylvestre's poetic and political legacy resonates with the careers of two thirtysomething artists in the 2020s. Through the memorable or more intimate songs of Anne Sylvestre, the autofictional writings of Marie Fortuit and the musical arrangements of Lucie Sansen, a powerful, hard-hitting heritage emerges, a feminist constellation is born, chanelling priceless echoes and natural pathways.

Saturday 28, Sunday 29, Monday 30 December at 8 pm, and Tuesday 31 December 2024 at 8 pm and 10.15 pm (New Year's Eve), Théâtre des Muses
All is not well in the land of the fairies! Demetrius is in love with Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, who holds a torch for Helena, who dreams of seducing Demetrius. But as if that web of romantic entanglements were not enough, Oberon and Titania, the King and Queen of the forest, decide to have some delicious fun at the mortals' expense, sending the knavish Puck to torment them. And in one final, dizzying complication, a troupe of amateur thespians find themselves embroiled in this imbroglio, in which each protagonist's destiny will ultimately be revealed. Will love win the day?