Canadian puppet company. L’Illusion, Théâtre de Marionnettes (Illusion Puppet Theatre) was founded in 1979 in Montreal by Claire Voisard, Petr Baran and Catherine Gadouas. This company of professional artists creates, produces and performs shows geared mainly toward younger audiences. Each show is the result of teamwork between creative designers who explore forms and original techniques of puppetry. Shadows, rod puppets, rod marionettes (French: marionnettes à tringles), string puppets, and pure and simple objects are animated in a world where anything can happen.

La Crèche de Bethléem (The Nativity, 1983), Tempête dans un verre de lait (Tempest in a Glass of Milk, 1986) and Les Contes merveilleux (Fairy Tales, 1991) and more recently À la belle Étoile (To the Beautiful Star), Pain d’Épice (Gingerbread), Histoire à dormir debout (Cock and Bull Story), Ondin, Philémon et Baucis (Philemon and Baucis), Jacques et le Haricot magique (Jack and the Magic Beans are a few of the company’s more than thirty productions to date. Directed by Claire Voisard, the company’s productions are created and performed in the Studio-théâtre de L’Illusion, an intimate space dedicated to puppetry and children.

L’Illusion, Théâtre de Marionnettes also performs in theatres in Quebec, Canada, the United States and Europe.

(See Canada.)