Levitation, duplication, dismemberment and illusions build and populate this organic and orgiastic succession of tableaux in a nightmarish and fascinating ritual. This ceremony borrows from sacred imagery as much as from the codes of cabaret. Its powerfully visual character never neglects our other senses. We hope to see this masterful opus return to many more stages in the future《La libre》

A fascinating succession of sombre, surreal, and powerful tableaux, where doubles and barely discernible presences roam through the shadows. All of this contributes to the strange, unreal, and unsettling quality of the piece. Definitely a must-see.《Toute La Culture》

A dizzying maundering through Goya’s dark world, The Great He-Goat draws upon history as a metaphor for the present day, when manipulative minds are back to steal from our very souls. Dreamlike imagery, danse macabre, and baton dances expressing fury and despair, fractured and convulsive bodies, the violence of war, and the games of society all echo Goya’s moral commitment. 《Danser Canal Historique》

 “The sleep of reason produces monsters.” — Francisco Goya
Ten museum guards find themselves trapped inside an exhibition hall at night, slowly consumed by the Goya painting they live alongside day after day. Their sense of reality begins to fracture as both body and soul are overtaken by the darkness, cruelty, and violence within the image. As though transformed into grotesque figures from Goya’s nightmarish world, they drift through delirious mutterings, absurd songs, puppet doppelgängers, baton dances, and danse macabre, conjuring a hauntingly seductive black dreamscape.
©Mikha Wajnrych

In his later years, Spanish painter Francisco Goya created the Black Paintings, a series shaped by illness and his profound despair over war and civil unrest. Inspired by one of its most iconic works, The Great He-Goat (also known as Witches’ Sabbath), Cie Mossoux-Bonté dissolves the boundaries between dance and theater. Bodies intertwined with puppets continuously split, distort, and reassemble, as past and present, consciousness and dream, reason and madness collapse into one another. More than a descent into the darker recesses of humanity, the work becomes a sharp reflection of today’s global turmoil.
And when darkness turns its gaze upon you, are you certain you still stand outside the painting?​​​​​​​
©Mikha Wajnrych
©Mikha Wajnrych

Cie Mossoux-Bonté
Founded by dancer Nicole Mossoux and director Patrick Bonté, Cie Mossoux-Bonté creates interdisciplinary works combining dance, theatre and visual art. Drawing on visual art, music and psychoanalysis, the two artists take turns leading creative projects that weave together movement, puppetry, music and the psychological unconscious into a distinctive theatrical language. Their works often explore a sense of “uncanny strangeness,” offering striking visual tension while continually engaging the audience’s imagination and presenting profound philosophical and social critiques.

Director, Concept & Choreographer／Nicole Mossoux
Director & Lighting Design／Patrick Bonté
Performer／Juan Benitez, Fauke Marien, Shantala Pèpe, Thomas Dupal, Fernando Martin Lopez, Dounia Patshiva, Isabelle Lamouline, Saulnier Candy, Yvain Juillard, Fatou Traoré
Puppet,Costume&Stage Design／Natacha Belova
Vocal Design／Jean Fürst
Sound Design & Technology／Thomas Turine
Costume Design／Patricia Eggerixck
Mask Design／Loïc Nebreda、Audrey Robin
Prop Design／Laurent Couline
Stage Design／Mikha Wajnrych
Stage manage／Lydie Fourneau
Technical Director／Jean-Jacques Deneumoustier
Master electrician／Léopold De Neve