Quidam

Quidam
Logo for Cirque du Soleil's Quidam
CompanyCirque du Soleil
GenreContemporary circus
Show typeTouring production
Date of premiereApril 23, 1996 (Montréal, QC)
Final showFebruary 26, 2016 (Christchurch, NZ)
Creative team
Writer and directorFranco Dragone
Director of creationGilles Ste-Croix
Senior artistic directorRichard Dagenais
Artistic directorFabrice Lemire
ComposerBenoît Jutras
Costume designerDominique Lemieux
Set designerMichel Crête
Lighting designerLuc Lafortune
ChoreographerDebra Brown
Sound designerFrançois Bergeron
Make-up designerNathalie Gagné
Artistic guideGuy Laliberté
Other information
Preceded byAlegría (1994)
Succeeded byO (1998)
Official website

Quidam (/kˈdɑːm/ kee-DAHM) was the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has been watched by millions of spectators around the world.[1] Quidam originated as a big-top show in Montreal and was converted into an arena format beginning with its 2010 tour in North America.[2] It then changed back to the Big Top for a 3-month run in Seoul, South Korea before returning to an arena show for its tour to Oceania. The show performed for the final time in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 26, 2016.

The entire show is imagined by a bored girl named Zoé who is alienated and ignored by her parents. She dreams up the whimsical world of Quidam as a means of escaping the monotony of her life.[1]

The show's title refers to the feature character, a man without a head, carrying an umbrella and a bowler hat. Quidam is said to be the embodiment of both everyone and no one at the same time. According to Cirque du Soleil literature "Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past... One who cries out, sings and dreams within us all."[1]

  1. ^ a b c "Quidam Press Kit" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil (Press Kit). Retrieved 2011-03-03.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Quidam performers adapt to the arena". Montréal Gazette. 2010-12-11. Retrieved 2011-03-03.[permanent dead link]