Patrick Chaboud
Founder and artistic director of the Magic Land Théâtre · actor, author, travelling performer · Brussels, from the Fêtes Romanes to Who's Who's Land
Patrick Chaboud passed on to Carl De Moncharline a taste for performance that leaves the theatre, takes to the street and goes to meet its audience. That encounter as a teenager at the Fêtes Romanes in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert awakened a heritage of collective creations, human adventures and every form of artistic expression. Founder of the Magic Land Théâtre and creator of the puppet Malvira, he showed that a creation could be popular without being simplistic, and that the sharing of a collective emotion often begins on a street corner.
Chapters
The Magic Land Théâtre, a collective adventure
Born in Lyon in 1951 into a “very simple” family, Patrick Chaboud was seventeen in May 1968. At twenty he volunteered in a kibbutz in Israel, an experience that changed his life. Back in Sweden, he gathered some thirty people of twelve nationalities and founded the Magic Land Commune, the collective's first name (English was their shared language, hence the name), which later became the Magic Land Théâtre.
1 document(s) · Open the chapterLollipop, the offbeat humour of RTBF's children
Lollipop's success on RTBF, at the turn of the 1980s, placed Patrick Chaboud and the puppet Malvira at the heart of a popular moment shared by a whole generation. Philippe Geluck, with the dog Bobosse, was its visible host; but the creation belonged to the Magic Land Théâtre, fed by a collective in which Patrick held the artistic line. The Malvira–Geluck duo shared the screen between 1980 and 1985.
2 document(s) · Open the chapterMalvira writes her memoirs (2002)
In 2002, after Malvira's return to screen in Les @llumés.be, Patrick Chaboud published Malvira, Vous ta gueule! with Le Grand Miroir: the outrageous old lady recounts her origins in the kingdom of Laideronnie, with signed caricatures by Philippe Geluck, Jean-Louis Lahaye and Pierre Kroll. A very Magic Land way of handling a career: through self-mockery rather than a balance sheet.
2 document(s) · Open the chapter2018, wiped off the map
In autumn 2017, the Magic Land Théâtre lost its subsidy, around 135,000 euros a year: “We expected not to get an increase, but not to be wiped off the map.” The answer came not from institutions but from the audience: in one year the theatre went from 12,000 to 15,000 spectators, and Zidani, Philippe Geluck, Virginie Hocq and Jean-Luc Fonck staged a benefit cabaret at the Théâtre Saint-Michel.
Open the chapterLa Constellation des Radis (RTBF, 1982)
In 1982, the Magic Land Théâtre brought La Constellation des Radis to RTBF. Published by Patrick Chaboud on his Facebook profile, this photo album shows the fairy-tale sets, costumes, stage armour and the company's collective work. As in the street, a whole world was built with whatever was at hand.
5 document(s) · Open the chapterLa véritable histoire de Malvira (RTBF, 1987)
In 1987, the Magic Land Théâtre shot La véritable histoire de Malvira in RTBF's largest studio. A month of filming, giant sets of ramparts, arcades and turrets, and a whole company working below frame to bring the puppets to life. These photographs reveal the human work behind the illusion and the collective precision that shaped the show.
12 document(s) · Open the chapterThe Fêtes Romanes, the first shock
Carl De Moncharline grew up in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, where his father ran the Château Malou; every year, the family took part in the Fêtes Romanes, which the Magic Land troupe animated in the streets. In 1989, “La cité de papier” brought together fifty actors, dancers and musicians, with pyrotechnics. That is where, as a young teenager, Carl discovered a theatre that leaves the stage and creates imagination among the crowd. Patrick was one of those artists; Carl did not yet know he was the founder.
Open the chapterMalvira at Who's Who's Land
Many years later, Carl invited Patrick Chaboud to present “Gloubi-Boulga Land” at Who's Who's Land, with Malvira, Casimir, Noam and Chantal Goya. The puppet also appeared in the TV spot.
2 document(s) · Open the chapterCommitted theatre, from the auditorium to the city
In November 2021, Patrick Chaboud asked the Minister of Culture for a “political gesture” for 198 non-subsidised cultural operators: more than a director, a spokesperson for an entire sector of itinerant artists without a safety net.
Open the chapterThank you, Patrick
Patrick Chaboud passed on to Carl De Moncharline the desire for a living, popular performance close to its audience. Creation can leave the walls, laughter can inhabit a street or a square, and a young teenager watching a puppet can become the one who later imagines entire nights.
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In the press