In 1929, Marcel Pagnol wrote his play Marius, aged thirty-five. Two years later, he took on the second part, Fanny, and finished off the trilogy six years later with César. This is a family saga about a boy becoming a man with a father who persists in seeing him as a child, and he would later say that the first was a comedy, the second a drama, and the third a tragedy that ends well.

Launched in 1999 with the play Marius, which would end up giving its name to the company, the open-air theatre work of Waas Gramser and Kris Van Trier on Marcel Pagnol started using old circus stands. They continued this approach over the years, extending it with a simple, friendly meal for the audience. This would be followed by Regain, Manon et Jean de Florette, Figaro, Le Schpountz and, of course, La Trilogie: Marius, Fanny et César.

In Rennes, all three plays will be performed one after another in a five-hour open-air show, interspersed with a meal, snacks, and plenty of drink, also used to draw the audience into the action, and bringing an end to our Flemish friends’ twenty years of work on Marcel Pagnol’s creations. All in the magical setting of Étangs d’Apigné, an emblematic location in the history and memory of the festival.