Bonjour Tristesse - About

Bonjour Tristesse is the first ever stage adaptation of Francoise Sagan’s classic French text (1954), which sold over 850,000 copies by 1959. A British and French cast transform Sagan’s seductive text on stage through stunning visuals, stylised movement and sensual music.

Text is by Kate Dickie and Cathie Boyd; composer Jane Gardner with live cello soundscape by Anthea Haddow; director Cathie Boyd; set and costumes by Alex Rigg; lighting Jon Pinsky.

A Tramway Commission.

A strange melancholy pervades me to which I hesitate to give the grave and beautiful name of sadness…

Today it envelops me like a silk web, enervating and soft which isolates me

Why do we hurt each other and why do we want to

I cannot say ‘to be myself’ for I was only soft clay, but still I could refuse to be moulded.

“Richly sensual layers.. pure quality of fused sounds, verbal, musical and frictive.”

The Herald

“A sensual and sumptuously visual adaptation...”

The Independent

Past Performances

Tramway, Glasgow as part of Mayfest (1995)

Edinburgh Festival (1995)