Théâtre Royal de Toone

Alexandre Dumas wrote “Les Trois Mousquetaires” in collaboration with Auguste Maquet. Their names are Athos, Pothos and Aramis (they all existed but were not of the same generation) and they are in the service of Louis XIII. Arriving from his native Gascony on a yellow bidet of dress, with a letter of recommendation from his gentleman father for M. de Tréville, captain of the guards, in Paris, d'Artagnan must earn his fine musketeer's helmet. He begins by fighting duels with those who are to become his inseparable friends.

D'Artagnan's love for Constance Bonacieux (Constanske chez Toone), Anne of Austria's loyal chambermaid, launches him into the adventure known as the “Ferrets de la Reine”: twelve diamond ferrets, gifts from the king, which the queen has given to Buckingham. At the instigation of Cardinal de Richelieu, who wants to lose the queen, Louis XIII instructs his wife to wear them to the next court ball. These ferrets are actually metal ends to ribbons. In the case of the Queen of France, they are adorned with diamonds.

For the convenience of the stage, and also because of story confusion, these ferrets are transformed by the Toone of the past into the Queen's necklace. This episode probably stems from another Dumas novel, “Le Collier de la Reine”, which has its roots in the Affaire du collier of 1785-1786, a scandal that broke out in France at the end of the Ancien Régime, following a swindle perpetrated by the Countess de la Motte with the help of Cagliostro. The latter convinced Cardinal de Rohan to buy a necklace for the Queen, which he was never able to repay. The affair compromised the innocent Queen Marie-Antoinette.

Narrative confusion and anachronism are part of Toone's daily routine. They don't bother with details.

As Molière said: “The important thing is to please!”

Even today, Toone respects the anachronisms of his predecessors.

This summer! A parody of the opera “Faust” by Charles Gounod!

How did Toone come to Gounod? At a time when La Monnaie, now the Opéra National, enjoyed overwhelming privileges over the other Brussels theaters, Tôône-Dufeys (another puppeteer dynasty) regularly visited the Opéra to copy as faithfully as possible the great shows that were inaccessible to the people of Marolles, and then present them in his theater.

At the time, traditional puppets were the only means of popular education for an audience always ready to get excited about the greatest works. Toone VII in turn turned to Gounod's opera for a parodic adaptation.

” ... While Dr. Faust drinks a last gueuze in the hope of a sudden death, a disquieting character, the “Deuvel”, comes to offer him bundles of thousand-dollar bills and a beautiful “mokske” with the sweet name of Marguerite, in exchange for his soul. We take a trip to the Foire du Midi, spend an enchanting night (backstage) and... it's love at first sight. With one consequence for Marguerite: “Dresses that are going to get too short in the front”...

Anyone who ventures into the vast universe of this subject will understand, through the humor, the sense of inner peace that animates it. It's easy to see how melodies like Salut, demeure chaste et pure or Anges pur, anges radieux could be adapted to a Brussels style...” (La Lanterne).

True to tradition, Toone does all the voices, and doesn't hesitate to push the jewels as far as our famous Castafiore.

Raymond Renard's sets and costumes give Marguerite every reason to see herself so beautiful in the mirror.