Noelle Perna

Born in 1954 in Philippeville, then part of French Algeria, Noëlle Perna grew up in a Pieds‑Noirs family of Neapolitan and Parma origins before settling in Nice, where her parents ran the Bar des Oiseaux in the Old Town. She took over the establishment at the age of twenty and gradually developed her artistic activity there: performing her first sketches behind the counter and, in 1999, opening a small adjoining theatre where she staged her own shows and those of regional artists. From the 1980s she and Richard Cairaschi produced regular radio segments for Radio France Côte d’Azur and wrote a satirical comedy for regional FR3, before moving into the one‑woman show with One Femme Chaude, Le Bassin des Méditerranéennes and the musical Mesclun Show. The creation in 2003 of her character “Mado la Niçoise” marked a turning point, followed by shows such as Mado fait son show, Mado prend Racine, Super Mado, Certifié Mado and, since 2023, Mado fait son cabaret, all performed on tour across France and in Paris. Perna’s humour is marked by a pronounced Nice accent, highly expressive gestures and an ear for barroom conversation, feeding scenes drawn from neighbourhood life, couple relationships, money and the gossip of the Old Town.