Le Balcon

Whether or not you're familiar with dramaturge and erstwhile criminal Jean Genet's 'Le Balcon', the Athénée's production is sure to take you by surprise. Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös has taken Genet's blistering study of revolution in and around an upmarket brothel and given it the operatic treatment – everything from French chanson to classic musicals feeds into his eclectic score, which is performed with aplomb by the eponymous Le Balcon musical ensemble. In a dramatic coup, director Damien Bigourdan has converted the entire theatre, from stage to bar via hallways and stairwells, into a stage, all the better to immerse the audience in what promises to be a memorable night at the opera.