Le Petit Prince d'Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Adapté pour la scène par Peter Joucla

Copyright: Editions Gallimard

2010-2011 season

This production toured Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy and Scandinavia for seven weeks in the spring of 2011

Le Petit Prince est un garçon aux cheveux d’or et au rire cristallin, qui ne répond pas aux questions qu’on lui pose mais ne renonce jamais à une question une fois qu’il l’a posée. Il habite sur une planète à peine plus grande que lui, l’astéroïde B612, dont le sol est infesté de graines de baobab. Il possède une rose, née un matin en même temps que le soleil, orgueilleuse et capricieuse, qui l’accable de reproches. Il profite d’une migration d’oiseaux sauvages pour s’enfuir et visiter les planètes voisines. De rencontre en rencontre, il arrive sur Terre et découvre l’amitié avec le renard. Il apprend avec lui que l’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux et réalise à quel point sa rose lui manque. Il est temps pour lui de retourner auprès d’elle et d’en prendre soin. Sur le chemin du retour, en plein désert, à mille milles de toute terre habitée, il rencontre un aviateur.

Le Petit Prince est un conte philosophique, magique et symbolique. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. La magie de notre spectacle repose aussi sur des éléments abstraits, tels la musique, l’atmosphère, qui participent de la tension dramatique. On utilise aussi le mouvement, la danse pour exprimer l’intangible : des idées, des émotions, l’amour, un trait de caractère. Et sur la scène, il y a le jeu des lumières et des ombres, comme expression d’un monde caché qui ne se révèle pas à première vue.

The Cast

2009-2010 season

The Cast

2004-2005 season

This is the story of a man who meets an extraordinary boy and relearns what it means to be a child. A pilot crashes his plane in the African desert and when he finds he has only enough water for eight days, he starts to fear for his life. While struggling to repair the machine on his own, he meets a very unusual child. For eight days, this Little Prince tells his remarkable story: where he is from, what his life was like there, why he left his own tiny planet to visit the Earth, and what he thinks of the flowers, snakes, foxes, and big people he met along the way. The pilot can do nothing but feel more and more awed by and protective of this young boy. Through his incredible stories the Little Prince reminds us of the joy of seeing the world through a child's eyes, even when you are all grown up. You are only limited by your own imagination.

At the heart of Le Petit Prince is the fox's bold statement that ‘anything essential is invisible to the eye.’ All the characters that the Little Prince encounters before coming to Earth explain to him, eagerly and openly everything about their lives. But the Little Prince finds that on Earth all true meanings are hidden. The first character to greet him on Earth is the snake who speaks only in riddles. Le Petit Prince concludes that what he discovers on earth seems always ‘mysterious’ and ‘secret.’ This choice of words is crucial to the book's message. To describe the mysteries of life as puzzles or questions would imply that answering them is possible. The fact that events on Earth are cast as mysteries suggests that they never can be resolved fully. However, this idea is not as pessimistic as it might seem. A central message of the story is that, while many questions in life remain mysteries, exploration of the unknown is what counts, even though it does not lead to definite answers.

This new production of Saint-Exupéry's wise and magical tale is adapted and directed by Peter Joucla. The story is brought to life on stage, using live music and a highly visual setting and performance style. The production uses three actors and two musicians. The cast of five will tour with a professional road manager / lighting technician.

The Cast

This production previewed at the Pump House Theatre in Watford on the 14th of October 2005 and then toured Germany and Switzerland until Christmas 2005.