Opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics: the (expected) moment of glory for Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the event

All eyes are on Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This Friday, July 26th, before the Vasque is lit, an extraordinary show will be presented to the public. Spectators and viewers alike will be in for a treat!

‘Entrusting the artistic direction of the ceremonies to Thomas Jolly is a bold choice but is consistent with our vision,’ said Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, after the choice was made in 2022. For the past two years, the director has been at the helm of one of the most broadcasted events in the world during each Olympic Games. Understandably so: for the first time in the history of the Games, this one will not be held in a stadium - in this case the Stade de France - but on the Seine.

It's an innovative concept that fits Thomas Jolly’s character. A native of Rouen, Normandy, Jolly has made popular theatre his trademark. Noted for his staging of a play by William Shakespeare at the Festival d'Avignon in 2014, with 18 hours of performances under his belt, the 42-year-old director is not afraid to take risks.

In addition to the Opening Ceremony, which will take place in a few moments on the Seine, Thomas Jolly will be leading the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games, as well as the two Closing Ceremonies. With a whole host of ideas, all more ingenious than the other.

An exceptional set-up for the Opening Ceremony

With the support of Daphné Bürki and Olivier Bériot for the costumes, the four co-authors (Leïla Slimani, Patrick Boucheron, Fanny Herrero and Damien Gabriac) and Maud Le Pladec especially, director of the dance part of the show, Thomas Jolly has surrounded himself well to ensure that his show - which will last a total of 3 hours 45 minutes - goes down in history.

It is true that the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) has set up an unprecedented array of equipment to follow the ceremony. With drones, helicopters, boats and telephones given to the athletes to film the event, a hundred or so cameras will also be deployed along the Seine - three times as many as in Tokyo.

Appointed Director of the Centre dramatique national d'Angers in 2020, the man who lit the Chaudron in Angers on May 28th will only stay at the helm for two years following his appointment as conductor of the four ceremonies.

‘The closer we get to it, the less stress I feel, he said last June. I'm very lucky because this is the first time that a single artistic director has been appointed to work on the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies. I also feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to create an unprecedented opening ceremony.’

Thomas Jolly, French ambition

This opening ceremony depicts the very best France has to offer. That is at least the artistic director's aim, as he reinterprets the areas in which the country shines around the world to shape it in his own way.

Throughout this 6-kilometre route along the banks of the Seine, Thomas Jolly hopes to impress with constant entertainment throughout and a tailor-made show for the event, featuring artists from all over the world boasting the virtues of France.

‘The extraordinary thing is that everyone in France and the rest of the world has an idea of what France is all about. And I want to play with that, that's where I want to start from - breaking down clichés, because clichés come along other things’, he explains.

The man from Normandy is sure to be one of the most closely watched performers at tonight's opening ceremony, which kicks off at 7.30pm. ‘Above all, I want this ceremony to include everyone. We must all celebrate this diversity’, concludes the man who hopes to conquer the billions of people in front of their screens or at the ceremony. And go down in history forever.