photo credit: Martin Argryoglo
Obie Award-winning director and scenographer Philippe Quesne is a singular figure in French theater. With Le Paradoxe de John [John’s Paradox], Quesne’s company Vivarium Studio presents a small and slightly eccentric community, lovingly rendered in his signature style of humor, care and melancholy. Paradoxe marks Quesne’s long-awaited return to Under the Radar following his earlier productions of L’Effet de Serge (UTR 2009) and La Mélancolie des Dragons (UTR 2017). In his new work, a sort of sequel to L’Effet de Serge, our focus falls on a tight collective of friends who construct an art gallery in an apartment. Using ghostly animated objects, striking effects, musical inventions, atmospheric composition and foam sculptures, a humorous world unfolds on the stage. Amidst the poetic and dreamlike texts of the writer Laura Vazquez, a theater of intimacy emerges amongst absurdity as a group of endearing characters embark together on gently surreal adventures. Le Paradoxe de John deftly explores the place of art in everyday life, highlighting the necessity of the artistic act, no matter how modest it may seem.
John’s Paradox is performed in French and English with English supertitles.
“A pinnacle of mastery and poetry, carried by an extraordinary troupe”
– Les Inrocks
CREDITS
Concept, Staging and Set design: Philippe Quesne
Poems: Laura Vazquez
Cast: Isabelle Angotti, Céleste Brunnquell, Marc Susini, Veronika Vasilyeva-Rije, Marc Chevillon
Costumes: Anna Carraud, assisted by Mirabelle Perot
Stage Management and Artistic Collaboration: François Boulet, Marc Chevillon
Technical Assistance: Thomas Laigle
Painting and decor: Marie Maresca
Composers of Music Samples: Noel Boggs, Fred Buscaglione, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Friedrich Hollaender, Lucy Railton, Franz Schubert, Demetrio Stratos, Riz Ortolani
Production: Vivarium Studio (2025).
Coproduction: La Commune, centre dramatique national d’Aubervilliers, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Théâtre de la Bastille, Théâtre Garonne – Scène européenne, Maillon Théâtre de Strasbourg – Scène européenne, Maison Saint-Gervais Genève, Kampnagel Hamburg
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Philippe Quesne is an accomplished artist and director based out of France. Quesne’s works cleverly unite the marvelous and the absurd, the everyday and the unexpected, humor and melancholy, theatrical illusion and the truth of nature. Quesne’s career began as a set designer for theatre, opera and contemporary art exhibitions. In 2003, he founded Vivarium Studio in Paris. The company has since gone on to tour the world. Select Vivarium projects include La Démangeaison des ailes, L’Effet de Serge, La Mélancolie des dragons, Swamp Club, The Night of the Moles and Garden of Delights. Quesne regularly premieres new work abroad, including at Münchner Kammerspiele, Campo Belgium, Komaba Agora Tokyo, Theater Basel, Schauspielhaus Hamburg and Volksbühne Berlin. His art installations have been shown at the Lyon Biennale, the Centre Pompidou, Prague Quadrennial and Performa New York. He was the Artistic Director of the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers from 2014 to 2020 and the Artistic Director at La Ménagerie de Verre in Paris from 2022 to 2025.
FUNDING + SUPPORT
Supported by AJT, with additional support from Theatre & New Forms, a program of Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation. Vivarium Studio company is supported by the Drac Île-de-France – Ministère de la Culture.
VENUE NOTES + ACCESSIBILITY
L’Alliance New York’s Florence Gould Theater
55 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues,
New York City
2 blocks from the N/R/W Lexington Ave and 59 Street stop
Accessibility
Please call the Box Office at 212-355-6160 to purchase accessible seats. Wheelchair access is available via the elevator in the main lobby of the building next door, 55 East 59th Street.
Appropriate Age Range
This production is appropriate for audiences ages 12 and up.
SCHEDULE
Monday, January 18 at 7:30pm
Tuesday, January 19 at 7:30pm
Wednesday, January 20 at 7:30pm
Thursday, January 21 at 7:30pm
Friday, January 22 at 7:30pm
VENUE
L’Alliance New York’s Florence Gould Theater
55 East 59th Street, between Madison and Park Avenues
NYC
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