The Théâtre du Jorat, Switzerland’s ‘sublime barn’

The unusual architecture and idyllic setting of the Théâtre du Jorat has earned it the nickname “the sublime barn”. To the best of anyone’s memory, a sitting king had never attended a performance in a Swiss theatre – until Albert I of Belgium came to see the play Tell at the Théâtre du Jorat in Mézières, canton Vaud. The year was 1914. The theatre in question was founded in 1908. Its founder, René Morax (1873-1963), a playwright and director from Vaud considered “the father of theatre in French-speaking Switzerland”, was the author of Tell (as in William), set to music by Swiss composer Gustave Doret. Morax, who had written numerous plays, several of which are based on Swiss history and legends (La Dîme, La Servante d'Evolène, Davel), was smart. He knew that to appeal to the public, he had to focus on popular themes. On the eve of the First World War, his hero Tell, the Swiss symbol of resistance against oppression, impressed the King of the Belgians with his sense of duty and ...