Robinson Crusoé, Offenbach

Laurent Pelly's staging

Laurent Pelly has created a modern and metaphorical staging of the myth of Robinson Crusoe: rather than sticking with the idea of a classic exotic tropical island, he chooses to set the action in urban America and transforms the work into a visual fable that reflects the contemporary world: here, the “island” resembles a capitalist society where shipwreck evokes precariousness and social exclusion rather than a simple exotic adventure. This is reflected in a visual iconography and setting that evoke a satire of consumerism and capitalist exploitation rather than colonial or tropical clichés.

Set design by Chantal Thomas and costumes by Laurent Pelly

The first part opens in the interior of a petit bourgeois flat, which serves as both a family home and a metaphorical island. The spaces are arranged around a central axis that rotates almost like a "mobile island", emphasising the isolated nature of their lives. In Act II, the set is transformed into a camp of destitute people at the foot of skyscrapers. Traditional huts become homeless tents. A gigantic neon sign reading ‘EAT’ then appears, symbolising the codes of fast food restaurants where ‘cannibals’ attempt to transform humans into consumable products. Here, the ‘savages’ take on the caricatured features of contemporary political figures (for example, Donald Trump clones with costumes and choreography).

The costumes designed by Laurent Pelly are part of a resolutely contemporary universe. The characters wear bourgeois clothing (conservative suits in neutral colours), emphasising the boredom of the world Robinson is about to leave. After the shipwreck, the costumes become the clothes of the homeless — parkas, tracksuits, oversized coats, repurposed plastic bags. The threatening figures are deliberately dressed in a caricatural manner, reinforcing the social satire.