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Zaï Zaï Zaï, Fabcaro's comic strip directed by Nicolas & Bruno on La Collection
Published on 30 June 2025
In Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï, writers and directors Nicolas & Bruno bring Fabcaro's comic strip to the stage with undisguised pleasure, delivering a droll show that's a troubling representation of our times. Aided by musician Mathias Fédou, they create a lively reading, full of humor, wit and singularity. The show is referenced on the French Institute's la Collection website, which offers a French cultural offering that's easy to distribute and modular, to enrich programming and develop partnerships for the French cultural network abroad.
Un duo complice
Both born in 1970, Nicolas and Bruno, real names Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine, are a duo of French directors, screenwriters, actors and stage directors. After starting out in music videos and advertising films, they created Amour, gloire et débats d'idées, a series of sketches broadcast on Canal+'s Le Vrai Journal in 1997. The following year, they launched the first Message à caractère informatif in Nulle part ailleurs, which would become a series of 350 cult sketches. After collaborations with Edouard Baer, Alain Chabat and Gérard Jugnot, they signed the adaptation of Frédéric Beigbeder's novel, 99 francs, for the cinema and directed for Canal+ the series Le Bureau, adapted from the British series The Office, with François Berléand in the lead role. Based on Fabcaro's comic strip, they jointly adapt Zaï Zaï Zaï.
A hilarious ride
A tragicomic delight, Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï follows the adventures of a comic book author, who has forgotten his loyalty card at a supermarket checkout. A general upset ensues, denounced by the cashier and managed by an imposing security guard, which turns into an absurd manhunt. Nicolas and Bruno adapt Fabcaro's cult comic strip in the form of a "live reading" with sound effects and live music for a hilarious, rocambolical ride.
A vision of our society
With Zaï Zaï Zaï Zaï, Nicolas and Bruno reach the heights of the absurd, based on Fabcaro's unrivalled material. On stage, they play all the characters themselves, assisted by musician Mathias Fédou, who provides them with an impeccable score, in tune with striking acting and sound effects. Behind the laughter, the two accomplices don't forget to slip in references to our times and a society in decadence, which more than ever needs art to exist.
An integration in the Collection
The show Zaï Zaï Zaï is referenced in the Collection, whose objective is to propose a French cultural offer light in diffusion and modular. These offerings, selected by Institut français experts and partner institutions and structures, are designed to be presented in establishments of the French cultural network abroad. Already performed at the Beirut Livres festival in Lebanon and at the Intime festival in Namur, Belgium, the adaptation of Fabcaro's comic strip is therefore set to see further performances abroad in the coming months.
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