If We Want to Teach The Past, We Need to Put On a Show

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(Photo credit: Puy du Fou, Spain)

The lights went down, and a floor-to-ceiling-sized screen illuminated, flying us over rugged mountains back in time to 11th-century Spain to the story of El Cid. A prominent Castilian nobleman and military leader who became a central figure during the Reconquista, when Christian kingdoms sought to reclaim territories from Muslim rule.

The great screen opens to reveal an extravagant theatre set, and the story begins.

El Último Cantar.

The Last Song.

This historical spectacle boasts live horses, kings and queens, sword fights, a beach, you read that right, this spectacle has a beach on the stage with lapping waves of real water, and just when your mind couldn’t be more melted…the two-thousand-seat grandstand moves. You, the audience, are rotated around the 360-degree stage from one jaw-dropping scene to the next.

You follow El Cid as he is betrayed by the king, falls in love with his wife Jimena, and fights the Moors on rocky ranges, all the way up until his heroic and legendary death, in which he asks to be strapped to his horse and propped upright in one last battle. This final act, this “coming back from the dead,” is what frightens the Moors, and they retreat, petrified of this otherworldly ghostly being. They drown in the ocean, and the battle is won by a dead man. El Cid’s wife walks his horse and his body upright, back to Burgos, where he is buried. You, the audience, follow, barely able to breathe from the beauty, lost for a word to utter, all you got is “wow”, spellbound by the courage of this legend who came before, showing us how to fight. You slap your hands together, get up, sparkly-eyed with emotion, and you think, “Leadership that transcends mortality,” and “That’s why this is called the best theme park in the world.”

Puy du Fou, is situated in Toledo, Spain, and it means…Madman’s Hill.

How could such a place grow to be considered the best theme park in the world without hosting a single rollercoaster?

I was racking my brain wondering how someone could be making profit from a park that has 200 human performers, 200 birds, and 30 horses.

Other spectacles at Puy du Fou include Christopher Columbus’s ship, which rocks back and forth and sprays you with water as you wonder at the bravery of men’s curiosity and ambitious nature. There is also an evening outdoor performance that takes the audience through the history of Toledo. It’s beyond words, people say. And it’s still on my list.

But I cannot stop thinking of El Cid. The story sank its teeth into me. It set my imagination on fire, reminded me of the great potential of the human spirit. Even if it is mostly myth now, as modern historians debate whether this actually happened, the power of the legend still rides strong. I heard Quentin Tarantino say, “Cinema is dead.” If you want someone’s attention, if you want to teach them something…you need to put on a live show. You need live storytelling.

You need people away from their phones.

Who created this theme park? I wondered. Who, with money and connections, had the passion to put this mad project together?

After a few clicks on my keyboard, I found this madman who dreamed up Madman’s Hill and spread it over France and Spain.

In 1977, Philippe de Villiers a young French journalist, discovered the ruins of an old Renaissance château deep in the Vendée countryside. The site, called Puy du Fou, was crumbling and overgrown. But instead of seeing decay, de Villiers saw a stage—a place to bring French history back to life.

He gathered a group of local volunteers and, in 1978, launched the first nighttime historical spectacle: La Cinéscénie, a theatrical retelling of French rural history through wars, revolutions, and love stories, told by hundreds of local actors on an open-air stage.

The park evolved into one of France’s most visited attractions, blending patriotic storytelling, immersive sets, and romanticised battles to stir national pride. Through Puy du Fou — with Roman colosseums, medieval villages, and theatrical recreations of Gallic resistance — de Villiers created not just entertainment, but a living narrative of French identity rooted in tradition, heroism, and cultural memory.

Beyond the park, de Villiers became a prominent right-wing politician. He served in the French National Assembly, European Parliament, and briefly as Secretary of State for Culture. He founded the Movement for France (MPF) party in 1994 and twice ran for president, using his platform to voice strong opposition to mass immigration, European integration, and what he viewed as threats to the French way of life.

Deeply conservative and nationalist, de Villiers used both politics and spectacle to argue that France’s future depends on reclaiming its past — through story, symbol, and shared heritage. His original show, La Cinéscénie, has 700 volunteer actors, and now has 4000 as well as a 23-hectare stage, thousands of costumes, live horses, drones, waterfountains, and fireworks.

It is now seen by 400,000 people every year, often sold out months in advance.

This award-winning theme park is set to take over the globe, Puy du Fou Asia is in development, and there are also projects planned for the Middle East and the U.S.

And there is great reason for excitement. As well as igniting the imagination of millions and retelling legendary tales in such a way that we remember who we are, where we came from, and why we are here…Puy du Fou has also a list of impressive achievements.

It has its own school that caters to primary and high school students. Puy du Fou Académie, trains over 700 children each year in drama, music, horsemanship, and technical stage work. Many of the performers and technicians at the park come from Puy du Fou Academy. What a way to learn about life! Compared to other private education institutions, this one is on the lower end of the spectrum, making it affordable for the majority of people interested in this kind of tuition. And how many schools can practically promise your child a thrilling job when they finish their studies or a vibrant casual position in which to learn the ins and outs of the working world?

(Photo credit: Puy du Fou Académie)

Through its charity work, Puy de Fou has donated over 3 million euros to global causes, including housing projects in Madagascar and medical and social initiatives in France and abroad.

When we think of the arts, when we think of charitable work, we often think…progressives. We often complain about woke Hollywood and why on earth in the series The Great is the King of Sweden…black?

The “arts” have been overtaken by the Left ideology, and we are seeing what happens to a world when just one way of thinking has complete control of the storytelling. We are now knee-deep in a very ugly culture war in which friends, family, and communities are cancelling each other as if it is the kind thing to do.

And what do we need to do when we are in a war?

We need to fight.

And there are many ways to do that peacefully. The old saying is that the pen is mightier than the sword. Poetry can punch. A great spectacle can slice an ill-bred idea in half. Beauty bruises and will remind someone of the unbearable ache of what they’ve now lost but never really knew they had.

In Dave Chappelle’s stand-up special Dreamer he said, “In your life, at any given moment, the strongest dream in that moment wins that moment.”

The Woke are dreaming a very strong and “inclusive” dream. “You can be whoever you want to be at the cost of reality” is a strong dream, even if it’s not healthy or advisable. It’s big. It’s strong. It has been winning.

But a myth that depicts your ancestor, a man, a mere mortal, going into battle dead for one last song, and winning, is a strong dream, too.

The strongest dream wins. The biggest spectacle will stay with us.

I’m so impressed with Philippe de Villiers fighting for what he believes in with beauty and bringing the community alive while doing so.

4.1 million people have seen his show. A Netflix series might get more viewers, but I doubt they remember the story the way those 4.1 million do.

It’s in their bones.

In a world in which we are sucked into our phones and whatever Netfilx serves up, de Villiers is showing us how to fight back. How to revive an appreciation for our culture and past. He’s leading the way for conservatives by putting his money, time, and creativity where his mouth is, and it’s having magical results.

He’s going all in with his last song.

He’s leading with beauty, bravery, bright lights, ancient battles, and deep love for (and pride in) his past…

And he’s asking others to follow.

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