Madame Angot’s Daughter is a successful 19th century-opéra comique, written by Charles Lecocq in the style of his greatest rival, Jacques Offenbach. This love story features Clairette, a sharp-tongued orphan, and Pomponnet, the neighbourhood’s hairdresser – a nice man deemed unattractive by Clairette. While these two are fictitious, some other characters actually existed: the rebel poet Ange Pitou, actress Mademoiselle Lange, and a whole other range of Parisian figures. The story takes place at the end of the French Revolution, when the Incroyables and Merveilleuses ruled over the French capital as it was slowly recovering from the Reign of Terror. In this frenzied atmosphere, sweet romance and humorous ensemble numbers go hand in hand. Fuelled by the liberty emanating from the piece, director Richard Brunel’s action takes place in May 68, a time just as relevant to his contemporary French audience as the post-Revolution years used to be for Lecocq’s. Through the lens of class struggle, deployed through a long tracking shot, the piece recounts the journey of a woman determined to live life on her own terms.