Théâtre Montansier - La Chanson de roland - La Bataille de Ronceveaux

From Friday 23 to Saturday 24 January 2026

20:30 to 21:30

Location : Théâtre Montansier

Destination

13 Rue des Réservoirs

78000

Versailles

GPS coordinates

Latitude : 48.808077

Longitude : 2.12423

Event Organizer

Théâtre Montansier

Phone : +33 139201600

"Théâtre Montansier "

Location

Théâtre Montansier

13 Rue des Réservoirs

78000

Versailles

Réservation

Presentation

To revive the chanson de geste and prevent it from being consigned to archaeological relics, to bring La Chanson de Roland out of medieval libraries, to summon up its original vitality once again.

Medieval performers (jugglers, troubadours and others) would sing it in the lands to revive the memory of the exploits accomplished by the Franks at the time of Charlemagne.

Discover a new translation of this 11th-century text and an adaptation centered on the battle of Roncesvalles, to be transported to the place where felons betray, where knights fight, where heroes die, where the king avenges his vassals. We hear the leashes of the original text, offering a modernized language that remains faithful to medieval cadences and poetics. A show that draws on the mocking, poetic aesthetics of the circus and the troubadours. Squire Turold recounts La Chanson de Roland every day. His ancient world, tinged with melancholy and fury, unfolds in the present with his hens, his donkey Chipie de Brocéliande and his valets, accomplices in his madness.

Turold rises at the crowing of the cock, makes himself a cup of coffee and listens to the radio, as he has every morning in the world, from 778 to the present day.
The old man relives the battle of Roncesvalles, and tells us all about his master's mad valour, Olivier's death, his journey to the moon, the recipe for the Vascons' omelette, and the epic end of the knight Roland on the battlefield. Grappling with his ghosts, stuck in a perpetual present, Turold sweeps us along in a joyous, poetic whirlwind, bringing his chanson de geste to life and reflecting on the immoderation of the hero.

By Jean Lambert-wild, Lorenzo Malaguerra, Marc Goldberg and Catherine Lefeuvre, based on an 11th-century epic poem, directed by Jean Lambert-wild & Lorenzo Malaguerra, music and sound by Bernard Amaudruz, scenography by Jean Lambert-wild, lighting by Renaud Lagier, costumes by Annick Serret & Simon Roland. With Jean Lambert-wild, Aimée Lambert-wild, accompanied by the donkey Chipie de Brocéliande & Vincent Desprez accompanied by the chickens Suzon, Odette and Claude.

Production déléguée La coopérative 326 , coproduction Théâtre de l'Union/CDN du Limousin, Le Sirque - Pôle National des arts du Cirque de Nexon Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Théâtre du Crochetan/Monthey, support from Centre équestre Mané Guernehué de Baden.