ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Julie Duclos Stages Victor Hugo's "Ruy Blas" at the Comédie-Française

opinion-review · 2026-08-18

Julie Duclos directs Victor Hugo's "Ruy Blas" at the Comédie-Française, drawing from the company's actors a level of performance described as exceptionally high. The production reframes a fiction set in seventeenth-century Spain as a clear-eyed examination of contemporary societies. The staging is presented as a magnified reading of Hugo's play, with the troupe's ensemble work placed at the center of the evening. The Comédie-Française, France's national theater company, hosts the production.

Key facts

  • Julie Duclos directs "Ruy Blas" by Victor Hugo at the Comédie-Française.
  • The production features actors from the Comédie-Française troupe.
  • Duclos's staging is described as drawing exceptional performances from the cast.
  • Hugo's play is set in seventeenth-century Spain.
  • The production turns that fiction into an analysis of contemporary societies.
  • The staging is characterized as magnifying Hugo's text.
  • The Comédie-Française is the Paris institution presenting the work.

Entities

Artists

  • Julie Duclos
  • Victor Hugo
  • Stéphane Varupenne
  • Denis Podalydès
  • Charles II of Spain

Institutions

  • Comédie-Française
  • Le Monde

Locations

  • Spain
  • France
  • Paris
  • Salle Richelieu

Sources