Thomas Jolly is a French actor and artistic director of La Piccola Familia, a theatre company that he founded in Rouen in 2006. Jolly's early life in Normandy was marked by a strong interest in theater, performing from a young age in his hometown of La Rue-Saint-Pierre. He began acting in 1993 and joined the children's theatre company, Théâtre d'enfants, in Rouen. He later studied theatre at the University of Caen and the National School of the Théâtre National de Bretagne in Rennes, where he directed his first play, Jean-Luc Lagarce's "Photography". In 2006, Jolly established La Piccola Familia. He directed the national drama center Le Quai d'Angers from January 1, 2020, until November 2022. He was the artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and also the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, the former of which was criticized by Christian denominations and socially conservative politicians.
Early life and schooling Jolly grew up near Rouen, in Normandy, France, he is the son of a printer and a nurse. From a young age, he exhibited a penchant for the theatrical, often staging shows at home in La Rue-Saint-Pierre, a small village in Seine-Maritime. Before he started performing "Seven Farces for Schoolchildren" by Pierre Gripari, a book his mother gave him when he was about six years old, Jolly was staging scenes from cartoons. He has fond memories of playing Cleopatra while a friend played the taster in their version of Asterix and Cleopatra. He spent holidays at his grandparents' house near Saint-Martin-du-Vivier. His grandfather gave catechism classes to children in their house. Although Jolly did not receive a religious education, he would listen from the next room without fully understanding. His grandmother, a former nurse, left a lasting impression on him because of her elegant manner and whimsical style of clothing. Jolly began acting in 1993 in Rouen and joined the children's theatre company, Théâtre d'enfants, directed by Nathalie Barrabé. He then attended Jeanne-d'Arc High School in the "Theatre" class, working under the guidance of actors from the Théâtre des Deux Rives. Starting in 1999, alongside pursuing a degree in theatre studies at the University of Caen, he created a university theatre troupe and performed in several regional festivals. In 2001, he joined the professional training for actor interns at ACTEA (La Cité Théâtre) in Caen, directed by Olivier Lopez. In 2003, he entered the National School of the Théâtre National de Bretagne in Rennes, led by Stanislas Nordey. During his studies at the Théâtre National de Bretagne, Jolly had the opportunity to direct a play for the first time. In 2005, under the guidance of Stanislas Nordey, he chose Jean-Luc Lagarce's Photography for his debut production.
Career After completing his studies he formed his own company, La Piccola Familia. He directed an 18-hour production of Shakespeare's Henry VI trilogy at the Festival d'Avignon in 2014. In 2018, he was invited to open the festival with a production of Seneca's Thyeste. In January 2020, he was named director of the national theatre of the city of Angers (Le Quai). In 2022 he presented Henry VI and Richard III as a 24-hour marathon entitled H6R3. He directed the revival of cult musical Starmania which debuted in 2022. By 2024; the critically acclaimed production had attracted over a million French and Francophone viewers.
2024 Summer Olympics
In September 2022, Jolly was appointed artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics in collaboration with Thierry Reboul. Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024, stated that Jolly was "a bold choice, consistent with our vision". Jolly presented an artistic staging, structured around a series of 12 tableaux, designed to be inclusive and representative of France, declaring "above all, I want this ceremony to include everyone. We must all celebrate this diversity." Tasked with telling the story of culture, people, and history of France, Jolly used the cityscape as his setting. He stated before the ceremony that "France is a story that never stops being constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed. It’s alive, it remains alive." While opening ceremonies have typically taken place in a stadium, the 2024 ceremony followed 6 km of the Seine. A flotilla of 85 boats carried athletes down the river as artistic performances were interspersed through twelve acts. The four-hour ceremony began with Lady Gaga singing at Île Saint-Louis, passing by landmarks such as Notre-Dame de Paris, Conciergerie, and the Louvre, and concluded with Céline Dion singing Hymne à l'amour from the Eiffel Tower. The show had strong themes of diversity and LGBTQ+ rights; Jolly himself is gay and was bullied as a child for supposedly being effeminate. The "Festivité" segment of the ceremony contained a scene of drag queens arranged in a row along a catwalk. A statement from Paris 2024 said that it was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's fresco The Last Supper, which depicts Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, while Jolly held it to represent "a pagan feast linked to the gods of Olympus". As such, it was criticised by socially conservative politicians and Christians as blasphemous. Responding to the criticism in a press conference, Jolly stated that "We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that. In France, we have freedom of creation, artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn't have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are a republic, we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey." The next day, on BFM TV, he denied having been inspired by The Last Supper. On 28 July, organisers issued an apology for the performance, stating that "there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group". French president Emmanuel Macron praised the "audacity" of Jolly's work and stated "the French and the whole world were very proud of this opening ceremony, it made us very proud."
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