Press Review

"Evoke wonderWhat does a puppet show look like in 2025? The word evokes Guignol, a familiar character manipulated behind a puppet theater in public gardens.In reality, regardless of its form, "the puppet exists from the moment when, in a performance, the human is not alone at the center of attention but gives life to other entities, which become vectors of projection and wonder," explains Céline Garnavault, puppeteer and director.Without the complicity of the spectators, there is no show: it is necessary that, in a tacit contract, they choose to believe in it. Then, the man...

Bordelais at the World Festival of Puppet Theatres 🎭The event attracts more than 155,000 visitors each year (credit: Fredéric Desmesures).The Bordeaux company La Boîte à sel represents the region at the 23rd World Festival of Puppet Theatres (FMTM), organized starting today in Charleville-Mézières, in the Ardennes.80 international companiesEvery 2 years since 1961, this event highlights puppet arts and live performance in Europe.Until September 28, 80 French and international companies will present 91 shows (between €9 and €21) in several cultural spaces in the city.The tr...

From September 19 to 28, 2025, Charleville-Mézières is set to experience a magical moment: the World Festival of Puppet Theatres welcomes 80 international companies, including the Bordeaux-based La Boîte à sel. With its immersive show Bad Block, Nouvelle-Aquitaine showcases itself as a territory of artistic innovation. Dive into the unique universe of this festival where tradition and modernity meet.Since 1961, the World Festival of Puppet Theatres (FMTM) has transformed Charleville-Mézières into the world capital of puppetry. For its 23rd edition, from September 19 to 28,...

The company has been selected to participate in the World Festival of Puppet Theatres, which will take place in Charleville-Mézières from Friday, September 19 to Sunday, September 28.The company La Boîte à sel, based in Bordeaux, has been selected to participate in the prestigious World Festival of Puppet Theatres (FMTM). The event, which is one of the largest European gatherings of live performance, will take place in Charleville-Mézières from Friday, September 19 to Sunday, September 28, 2025.The troupe will present its creation titled “Bad Block,” conceived by Céline Gar...

"The theater of sound objects imagined by Céline Garnavault and Thomas Sillard is situated at the border between theater, contemporary puppetry, art installations, and music. The small numbered cubes communicate. Do they have a soul? Mathieu Enderlin, master of ceremonies, will cleverly, with false pretenses and a talent for persuasion, make us believe it. He is wonderful. Slowly and insidiously, the audience becomes attached to the blocks, each one to theirs bearing its number. It is strange to feel the spirit of the actor slipping through, by means of the fine scenic dev...

"This confrontation with strange "blocks" suspended in space is reminiscent of a close encounter of the third kind, an invitation to dialogue with unidentified objects from a distant galaxy. Connected speakers, these interactive "blocks," some of which are entrusted to the public, invite us to dive into a rich imagination of sound and light creations. As bewildering as it is unusual, their presence guarantees an enjoyable evening full of surprises." les inrockuptibles, supplement on the FAB Festival International des Arts de Bordeaux Métropole

"Bad block and youThe Bordeaux company la Boîte à sel continues its sound explorations with Bad block, a show with a playful and participatory setup. Facing a forest of cubic amplifiers of all sizes, perched at different heights and acting as immobile (but luminous) actors, the audience is invited to manipulate blocks, which are also amplified and numbered (up to 101). Sorts of moo boxes, but much more advanced.And, magically, exchanges and interactions occur between these machines, which trigger unexpected sound effects, communicate with each other or with the spectators,...

The play "Bad Block" by the company La Boîte à sel invites the audience to participate."Bad block" was created by the company La Boîte à sel at the end of its residency at the Glob theater in Bordeaux. After 18 creations, their universe still revolves around object theater. And most often connected.The director Céline Garnavault, along with sound artist and creator Thomas Sillard, imagined for "Bad block" a hybrid installation-show that combines sound arts, digital arts, puppet arts, and new magic. An interactive experience that welcomes a group of human guinea pigs: the au...

Meeting with Céline Garnavault, creator of the company La Boite à sel, which operates in the very unique field of connected object theater and has been working for years to offer intergenerational performances accessible to everyone. Arnaud Laporte speaks with director and puppeteer Céline Garnavault, creator of La Boite à sel, who presents several plays on tour. Among them, BLOCK and TRACK, as well as BAD BLOCK, created at the end of her residency at GLOB in Bordeaux, as well as ANATOMIE and LES INVITÉ.ES.

They are currently designing a spectacular experience together with a multitude of partners: 90 connected sound objects, called blocks, and an audience of 30 people. Céline Garnavault, from her role as interpreter/director, and sound designer Thomas Sillard, engage here in the game of exchange between humans, around this laboratory of the concrete, from Cie La Boîte à sel, in the form of an immersive and interactive journey.