Show unveiling deadline set
Puy du Fou must unveil its new show Le rêve de Louis XIV by the end of May 2027. The show, which promises to be flamboyant, blends history and romance and features cutting-edge technology.Ambitious vision from the president
Nicolas de Villiers, president of Puy du Fou, scenarist and director of the show, stated it is "undoubtedly the most ambitious show we have created." Puy du Fou had been considering the project for years but waited until it was "ready" to take on Louis XIV, a major figure in French history.Four years of preparation
Teams have been working on the staging of the show for four years, which immerses the audience in the Grand Siècle and relies on advanced technologies. The show will be unveiled earlier than planned and will take place in a new building housing a small theater specifically built for the show and named "Le Palais royal."Highlighting Louis XIV's legacy
Puy du Fou has chosen to highlight Louis XIV as the king who invented the French art of living. De Villiers explained that the art of living is the idea that every gesture of daily life can become a small masterpiece, and Louis XIV emphasized this throughout his reign.Alexandrine as a poetic form
In the time of Louis XIV, clothing became a costume, food became gastronomy, walking became dancing, and language became a poem. This is why the alexandrine has become the form for writing the entire 35-minute show. De Villiers noted that France invented the alexandrine and that writing the show in alexandrines highlights how well-suited the form is to the French language.Investment in new technology
The technological means used for this show make it a completely new production, with an investment of 33 million euros. Puy du Fou has imagined an "infinite" stage, mixing live performance and virtual images.Innovative stage design
Real sets are extended by 800 square meters of screens, making it difficult for the viewer's eye to distinguish the real from the virtual. According to de Villiers, these new technological means allow a three-dimensional journey, giving the audience the feeling of moving forward, wandering, and turning inside a set.Advanced robotic elements
In addition to the screens, there are 40 monumental sets, moved by forty robots designed specifically, which follow a choreography precise to the millimeter. Although this staging concept is completely new, Puy du Fou has always used technology to enhance its shows.Embracing emerging technologies
De Villiers said they are very fond of emerging new technologies because they passionately like to divert them to serve the illusions necessary for their staging. He added that it is thanks to this technology that the show becomes, as Louis XIV said, the art of surprise.Story of Madeleine and the Sun King
Le rêve de Louis XIV tells the epic of Madeleine, a young dancer who enters Versailles to work in the kitchens. Thanks to an unexpected meeting, she discovers the dazzling court of the Sun King: Molière and the learned women, Vatel, the intendant with a tragic destiny, Fouquet, the minister consumed by ambition, Lully, the king's designated musician, and Le Nôtre, the inventor of French gardens.Blending history and romance
De Villiers explained that the starting point of the show is entirely historical and then the romance takes over, which is one of the outstanding features of their artistic signature. He added that they start from a quite precise and documented historical context and then move away from historical reality to offer a real romance.Emotional impact on the audience
What matters is what people retain through the characters they have discovered and the intrigues they have gone through. What matters to them is the emotional deposit that accumulates in the audience's heart, because this deposit is the one that will make them feel the greatness of France at a particular period or another and, in this case, the greatness of France in the Grand Siècle.
