Hollywood Burns: an American dream consumed by reality at the Studio Hébertot

Under the pale neon lights of 50s Hollywood, a young man dreams of cinema, while everything around him seems to be falling apart... Hollywood Brûle, Marie Reignier's new creation, is on at the Studio Hébertot, Paris, from September 4 to October 26, 2025. Marie Reignier is responsible for the text, direction and set design, surrounded by five actors with whom she also shares the stage: Dorian Pla-Moreaux, Axel Kengne, Jérôme Godgrand, Thierry Mulot and Zelig Hohenberg-Tobaly, in the role of Jack enfant. Video design is by Adrien Vu Van, lighting by Laurela Delle Side and costumes by Guenièvre Lafarge.

This show plunges you into a post-war America, at once seductive and cruel, where the illusion of upward mobility rubs shoulders with the harshness of economic mechanisms. In a style reminiscent of Tennessee Williams, the play is rooted in the intimate and the social, blending family drama and collective tensions.

Hollywood Brûle : un rêve américain consumé par la réalité au Studio Hébertot — ©Arthur Beaudoire

Synopsis of Hollywood Burns:

"Under the blazing sun of 50s Hollywood, Jack, a mechanic in a garage on the edge of town, dreams of becoming an actor. When he comes across a casting ad in a newspaper one day, he knows: the part is for him. But Jack doesn't know that his father's garage is on the verge of closing... In the spirit of Tennessee Williams' plays, Hollywood Burns depicts the disillusionment of the American dream, suffocating family relationships, the clash between rurality and industrialization, and the burning desire to find one's place...".

A show for fans of psychological and social narratives

Hollywood Brûle speaks to an audience drawn to large-scale psychological frescoes and tales anchored in an era of transition. The show seems to explore the complexity of family ties, the struggle between dreams and resignation, while painting a critical but never caricatured portrait of society. Fans of atmospheric theater, where the rhythm is based more on silences than action, may well find an echo here.

On the other hand, the show is unlikely to appeal to those looking for light comedy, contemporary intrigue or a fast-paced narrative. The dramatic, introspective mood, combined with the immersive scenography, could confuse audiences looking for immediate entertainment.

A creation at the crossroads of several disciplines

The piece also relies on a scenic device combining video, voice-over and lighting, to recreate the atmosphere of a Hollywood that is sunny on the surface, but twilight in depth. Interventions by voices recorded by Jérôme Godgrand, Marie Reignier and Annouck Saussier, as well as images designed by Adrien Vu Van and edited by Florian Weber, seem to participate in a fragmented form of narration, where memories and mental projections intertwine.

Costumes by Guenièvre Lafarge anchor the ensemble in the aesthetics of the '50s, while lighting by Laurela Delle Side evokes the violent contrasts between light and shadow, accentuating the opposition between dream and disillusion.

Trailer for Hollywood Brûle:

By portraying the thwarted hopes of a young man and the silences that plague family relationships, Hollywood Brûle questions the social and emotional dynamics at work in a changing society. The show is part of a dramatic tradition that doesn't just showcase destinies, but attempts to understand what shapes them. Between the desire for emancipation and the weight of legacies, it offers an intimate yet universal reading of an era that could resonate with our own.

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