Premiere
Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure
Very freely inspired by Proust. The narrator recalls a moment of his early childhood that filled him with dread: bedtime.
- From 24 to 27 November 2026Comédie de Caen
- From 30 November to 2 December 2026Le Volcan, scène nationale (Festival Ad Hoc), Le Havre
- 29 January 2027Théâtre de Lisieux Normandie, Lisieux
Works
The company
Flavien Bellec and Étienne Blanc met in 2015 on the Master's programme in Directing and Dramaturgy at Université Paris Nanterre.
In 2019 they founded the Compagnie Frenhofer together, wanting to make shows in which theatre can be funny, strange and a little wobbly all at once.
Starting from texts, myths or well-known figures (Jules Renard, Sophocles, Homer, Proust), they are less interested in adapting them than in seeing what they can spark on stage. Their shows play with the codes of theatre, the place of the audience and the very making of the performance. Their forms are often simple and pared back, leaving plenty of room for acting, humour and accidents. Above all, it is about creating situations in which the audience can be directly involved.
Since 2019 the company has created Flavien, Antigone Puppet, Poil de Carotte, Poil de Carotte and Détail d'un vase grec à figures rouges. It is currently preparing Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure, after Proust, which premieres in November 2026 at the Comédie de Caen.
Frenhofer is a non-profit association (loi 1901) based in Orbec, Normandy.
Press
Philippe Person, April 2023 — Poil de Carotte, Poil de Carotte“An exhilarating exercise”
Joëlle Gayot, 12 April 2023 — Poil de Carotte, Poil de Carotte“More complex, ambitious and profound than many flashy but meaningless productions”
“A novel of origins, the origins of theatre”
L'Avant-Scène, interview, 19 April 2025 — The company“We stage our doubts”