Bluebeard / Que votre barbe est bleue

Ludmilla, a young washerwoman, is eager to discover the world. She agrees to marry the Count of her region, known as Bluebeard and become his 58th wife! She has the keys to the castle, she can go anywhere she likes. Only one thing is forbidden…opening the small unremarkable door in the left wing. A tiny door, burnt and silent. In the castle, Ludmilla discovers a chaotic, unjust and absurd world. In the countless rooms, a concerto of derailed misunderstandings plays out, a parade of characters overflowing with madness, a juggling act of languages with inverted maxims. The Middle Ages invite themselves into the modern era, translations no longer work, excess and absurdity become the norm.

This is a feminist re-imagining of the well-known folk tale, seeing Bluebeard’s castle as a metaphor of the modern capitalist world and tackling issues of social justice and environmental sustainability through storytelling, physical comedy and folk song. It was toured in France and Italy (in both languages) and performed in a vast array of spaces, including barns, community halls, gardens, schools and outdoor festivals.