Thomas Jolly

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.

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.

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.

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." 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."

Harassment and threats Following a complaint by Jolly, French prosecutors started an official investigation into death threats and cyber-harassment directed at him. Jolly reported receiving threatening and abusive messages on social media. This probe, overseen by the French judiciary's online hate division, may lead to charges such as defamation, public abuse, and threats based on origin and sexual orientation. 2015: Richard III by William Shakespeare 2016: Le Radeau de la Méduse by Georg Kaiser 2016: The Sky, the Night and the Glorious Stone, Chronicles of the Avignon Festival from 1947 to... 2086, Jardin Ceccano, Avignon 2016: Eliogabalo by Francesco Cavalli at the Opéra Garnier 2017: Fantasio by Jacques Offenbach at the Opéra Comique 2018: A Garden of Silence, a musical show by L. (Raphaële Lannadère) in Vannes 2018: Thyeste by Seneca, Cour d'honneur du Palais des papes, Festival d'Avignon 2019: Macbeth Underworld, music by Pascal Dusapin, La Monnaie, Brussels 2020: The Night of Madame Lucienne by Copi, Le Quai CDN of Angers 2022: The Dragon by Evgueni Schwartz, Le Quai CDN of Angers 2022: Starmania by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon 2023: Romeo and Juliet by Charles Gounod, Opéra Bastille, Paris 2024: Opening and closing ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics 2024: Opening and closing ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Paralympics

Actor 2005: Splendid's by Jean Genet, directed by Cédric Gourmelon 2006: Peanuts and Genoa 01 by Fausto Paravidino, directed by Stanislas Nordey 2007: Arlequin poli par l'amour by Marivaux: Harlequin 2008: Toâ by Sacha Guitry 2010: Piscine (pas d'eau) by Mark Ravenhill 2011: The Race of Mars / The Feast of Death 2012: Henri VI by William Shakespeare (first cycle) 2013: The Contagion of Darkness / The Viper's Tooth 2013: The Purple of the Blood / The Winter of Discontent 2014: Henry VI by William Shakespeare (second cycle) 2015: Richard III by William Shakespeare: Richard III 2016: All the Children Want to Do Like the Grown-Ups by Laurent Cazanave 2016: The Sky, the Night and the Glorious Stone 2018: Thyeste by Seneca, Cour d'honneur du Palais des papes, Festival d'Avignon: Atreus 2018: A Garden of Silence, a musical show by L. (Raphaële Lannadère) 2019: Le Chandelier (The Candlestick) by Alfred de Musset, directed by Bruno Bayeux: Fortunio 2021: Mithridate by Jean Racine, directed by Éric Vigner: Xiphares

Awards

2015: Molière for "Best Director of a Public Theatre Play" for his production of Henry VI (play) 2023: Molière for "Best Musical Show" and Molière for "Best Visual and Sound Creation" for his re-creation of Starmania (musical)