Compagnie Picaro / TEATRO PICARO

L’Homme et Le Pêcheur is the signature work of the Picaro Theatre Company.

Premiered in 2023 at the Avignon Festival OFF, the play distinguished itself among more than 1,500 productions and won the Critics’ Coup de Cœur Award.

From 2023 to 2025, it continued to captivate audiences at Avignon, playing to full houses, with tickets impossible to obtain.

Synopsis

Can everything be laughed at? Of course, and it must be so. Yet when the laughter fades, when silence falls, we look up and cannot help but ask: Do we truly exist? And what proves it, if not the endless meditation of thought?

L’Homme et Le Pêcheur is a contemporary comedy, inspired by both surrealism and popular theatre. Beneath lighthearted laughter and absurd details, it strikes at the very core of human existence: “I think, therefore I am.” It also highlights the seemingly trivial details that can upend an entire life—like wearing sandals with white socks.

Wrapped in satire and humor, the play reveals the hidden fabric of contemporary society: compromise and resignation, solitude and conformity. Three overlapping spaces unfold on stage: the Man and the Fisherman, the Hunter and his Dog, the Captain and the Sailor—where truth and illusion, reality and fantasy, intertwine. When the Man encounters “Death,” the audience glimpses themselves, trapped in a reality from which they cannot escape.

The “bridge” in the theatre is both a place of encounter and a symbol of reflection and survival. It connects life and death, tragedy and comedy. It opens a door for the audience—absurd yet profoundly moving: Must one lose everything before seeing the true value of life?

The answer, perhaps, lies in the laughter of L’Homme et Le Pêcheur.

About the Company

TEATRO PICARO

Founded in 2009 by Ciro Cesarano (and Fabio Gorgolini in its early years), TEATRO PICARO has been devoted to the creation, production, and promotion of contemporary theatre. Its artistic vision lies in exploring a unique stage language—where emotion sparks thought, theatre reflects reality, and audiences are stirred into deep resonance.

This exploration unfolds along two main paths:

• Original creations: such as L’Homme et Le Pêcheur, which focus on pressing issues of contemporary society and portray the complex dilemmas of individuals caught between inner contradictions and social conflict.
• Reinterpretation of classics: adapting and reimagining the works of 20th-century masters of literature, breathing new life into timeless texts in a contemporary context.

Credits:

Director: Ciro Cesarano

Dramaturgy: Jean-Marc Catella, Ciro Cesarano, and Fabio Gorgolini

Acting Coach / Direction: Fabio Gorgolini

Actors: Ciro Cesarano and Paolo Crocco

Set Design: Claude Pierson

Lighting Design: Orazio Trotta

Costumes Design: Isabelle Deffin

Music: Matteo Gallus

Literary Translation: WANG Zhao

Tour Manager: ZHANG Juntao

Chinese Team:

Producer: YAN Youchen

Scenography Director: SHEN Li

Lighting Operator: ZHANG Chi

Stage Manager: LU Beibei, YUAN Ziyi

Performance Operation: GU Qiulei, CHEN Mubai