This Cid project is paved with good intentions. Those of a popular theater, where Jean Bellorini positions himself in the lineage of his predecessors at the head of the TNP, Jean Vilar and Roger Planchon, by going beyond a simple reinterpretation of the play to offer a fresh perspective. The intention is to shake up this theatrical monument by making it resonate with our society. The aim is to make Corneille's text, composed of 17th-century alexandrines, more palatable to 21st-century ears. The goal is to make the play more concise by reducing its running time by a good hour. A challenge brilliantly met by some. One thinks, for example, of The Mad Adventures of Sir John Falstaff, which Marcel Maréchal presented in Lannemezan, offering the audience a delightful journey through Shakespeare's theater. But Jean Bellorini's revisited Cid is not as convincing. The metamorphosis of Corneille's *Le Cid* into "The Story of a Cid," presented at the Parvis on Tuesday and Wednesday, has done more to diminish the tragicomedy's essence than to make the play accessible to a wider audience. It's a stroll through a monument punctuated by nostalgic references that speaks more to those who have memories of a classic that haunted the classrooms of another era. The pop icons, clearly designed to give voice to this Cid, have nothing to say. Like the bouncy castle. Like "SOS d'un terrien en détresse" performed like a Balavoine singing off-key. They spin their wheels and contribute nothing to the understanding of what unfolds before the spectators' eyes. A beautiful theatrical idea that fails to give voice to the Cid.
Nous avons vu Histoire d'un CidJean Bellorini - Le Parvis (Ibos)
The Cid and the pop
With his Histoire d'un Cid
, Jean Bellorini offers a journey through Corneille's play. At the risk of missing the point of Le Cid.
Histoire d'un Cid de Jean Bellorini sur la scène du Parvis
Par Stéphane Boularand / ©Bigorre.org / spectacle vu le Monday, April 13, 2026 / published on Saturday, April 18, 2026
Artistes
- Pierre Corneille (d'après)
- Jean Bellorini (mise en scène)
- Cindy Almeida de Brito (interprète)
- Damien Zanoly (interprète)
- Karyll Elgrichi (interprète)
- Clément Griffault (claviers)
- Benoit Prisset (percussions)
- Federico Vanni (interprète)
- Luca Lervolino (interprète)
- Macha Makeïeff (costumes)
- Véronique Chazal (scénographie)
- Mélodie-Amy Wallet (collaboration artistique)
