Tri Groša

“It is hard to live two lives in one” confesses madam Piaf while telling us about unbelievable experience of a tiny woman like she was. In her striking and overwhelming songs we recognize the spirit of Parisian streets and varietés from 30s as well as spectacular atmosphere of music halls which gathered elite and lowlifes of those times.

She was a friend of Jean Cocteau, her maid of honor was Marlene Dietrich, she discovered Charles Aznavour and Yves Montand, she was the inspiration for the whole epoche. She became a myth staying faithful to Parisian streets and carnival culture, both in her songs and her life style. She loved passionately and unreservedly, radiating with simplicity, melancholic desire and freedom to stay faithful to herself, both on the social margins and under the stage lights.

The creative team was inspired by a fairy tale of a messy girl from the streets who became famous worldwide. Gathered they tell a story about overwhelming and all motivating love. As Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Édith’s saint patron, would say: “What matters in life is not great deeds, but great love!”

[ÉDITH] is an homage to the greatest French chanteuse of the 20th century, Édith Piaf, made for the celebration of the 100 years after her birth. The style of performance combines the power of pure acting, mime, cirque nouveau, puppetry and cabaret. It is roughly divided in 10 tableaus which cover the most important events of her life. The performance stays compact within few motifs with multiple symbolic potential – darkness and light, freedom and (bird) cage, fear and boldness, rawness and elegance. Almost equal part with actress’s magnificence plays the music of extraordinary talented composer and pianist whose music paints the circumstances of dramatic situations due to the fact that there is no scenography. Music also plays an important role in creating the intimate atmosphere for confessional tone of the text. The performance includes 4 famous songs of Édith Piaf – Milord, Padam Padam, La Vie en Rose and Non Je Ne Regrette Rien. The only requisite used in the performance is a circus trapeze.