Grand Guignol meaning"big puppet" refers to the popular children's puppet show character,Guignol, of Lyon, France, related to the English Punch & Judy. 2008 is the 200th birthday of Guignol. Come meet him!

The Theatre du Grand-Guignol in Paris (1897-1962) achieved a legendary reputation as the “Theatre of Laughter and Terror,” a venue displaying such explicit violence and blood-curdling terror that a resident doctor was employed to treat the numerous spectators who fainted each night. A performance at the Grand Guignol strove to terrify and titillate the spectator through a mixture of horror, laughter and the erotic. A typical evening’s entertainment reveals the sophisticated exploitation of the contemporary audience’s fears, taboos and desires. The plays of the Grand-Guignol inevitably featured eye-gouging, throat-slashing, acid-throwing, or some other equally grisly climax. The plays incorporated melodrama and naturalistic theatre styles.

An evening consisted of 5-6 short plays that alternated between horror and comedic satire, dubbing it "an evening of hot and cold showers" or "the theatre of laughter and terror." The Grand Guignol became a precurser of film noir and the horror film genre. The theatre was also known for its innovative special effects.

Click here for information and history of the on the folk tales, as we approach them in The Grand Guignol Children's Show.