When the Paris Olympics Begin, the Seine Is His Stage

Thomas Jolly, artistic director of all four Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies, in Paris. “I don’t have a model to work from,” he said. “It’s creation in the extreme.”In French, the word for stage, “scène,” sounds exactly like the name of the river that runs through Paris.

The Seine.

That’s one of the first things the director Thomas Jolly liked about the idea of creating an opening ceremony that would float through the heart of Paris.

For the past two years, the river has become his workroom, offering challenges unknown to most theater directors: currents and wind tunnels, a vulnerable fish hatchery, a plan for thousands of athletes to float through in boats, 45,000 police officers scattered…