A feast for the eyes, ears, – and nose, too

What happens when our sense of smell is purposefully involved in theatre? This question is currently being explored by Paris-based director Violaine de Carné. In cooperation with biochemist Laurence Fanuel, she creates olfactory stage productions to send messages straight to the unconscious.  

There is a growing desire among theatre-makers to offer audiences multi-sensory experiences that involve them in the action on a visceral level.

To do so, they might want to call on the services of biochemist Laurence Fanuel in future. He is a key proponent of olfactory theatre, conducting research for the company Le TIR et la Lyre. Fanuel’s expertise, gained over years working for the chemical giant Procter & Gamble as well as for the perfume industry, has already been called upon by Violaine de Carné, who cut her teeth as a director with the greats of French theatre (from Ariane Mnouchkine to Jean-Pierre Vincent) and cinema (including Tunisian-French director Abdellatif Kechiche). Their collaboration marks an unusual fusion of scientific research with dramatic art.

In pieces such as “Incense and Tar” and “The Perfume of the Soul”, de Carné and Fanuel present audiences a new kind of theatre experience. Triggering a storm of inner emotions, this takes place on an unexpectedly intimate and personal level, and can be disorienting. It goes without saying that audiences attend shows with their noses as well as with the rest of them, but they are barely aware of the fact. Yet smells have a direct impact on the unconscious and emotionally involve audience members on a level they cannot consciously control, invoking both personal experiences and the collective memory. How we perceive a smell is directly linked to, and influenced by, the other senses. And this enables theatre-makers to deliberately steer the audience’s emotions and reactions. 

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