Eccentric, scandalous, provocative, exuberant and funny as ever, Jean Paul Gaultier has shaken up the theatrical world by inventing a new kind of entertainment lying somewhere between a revue and a fashion show.
In this extraordinary production, actors, dancers and circus artists take to the stage and play outlandish, passionate, larger than life, rude, sexy, sassy characters.
Set against the backdrop of a giant video wall, a key part of the production features vignettes of special guest stars – including a number of Gaultier’s long-term, iconic supporters and friends. Rossy de Palma plays the young Gaultier’s unforgiving schoolteacher, who harbours secret fashion fantasies of her own, while Catherine Deneuve reads out the hysterical names that Gaultier gave the creations in his fabulous men’s couture show of the early ’90s.
As author, director and costume designer, Jean Paul Gaultier takes a look at our times in both an extravagant and tender way, and invites us behind the scenes into his world filled with excess, poetry and magic.
From his childhood to his early career, from his greatest fashion shows to the wild nights in Le Palace or London, Jean Paul Gaultier shares his journal of the times and pays tribute to those who have inspired him along the way – in film (Pedro Almodovar, Luc Besson), music (Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Myléne Farmer) and dance (Régine Chopinot, Angelin Prejlocaj).
In the show, conceived like a grand party, Jean Paul Gaultier will surprise us yet again. He has designed hundreds of new exclusive outfits, incorporated within an exuberant set – without forgetting to pay tribute to his most iconic creations!
He has collaborated with the best in their field; actress, scriptwriter and director Tonie Marshall, who co-directs the show, and choreographer Marion Motin (Madonna, Christine and the Queens, Stromae, Resiste The Musical).
From disco to funk, from pop to rock and new wave and punk, Fashion Freak Show has an explosive playlist of hits that have inspired the artist throughout his life.
Fashion Freak Show made it’s UK premiere at London’s Southbank in July 2019, to great audience and critical acclaim. In 2020, the production headed to Russia, with sell out performances in St Petersburg and Moscow. Fashion Freak Show returned to London in 2022, making The Roundhouse in Camden it’s temporary home for the summer. After sell out runs in Tokyo and Osaka, the show heads to Europe, starting with Munich in July 2023, followed by Portugal in November and then Italy in spring 2024.
*Fashion Freak Show is produced by Thierry Suc of TS3. RGM are the international producers.
