Jacques Lepage invites Pinoncelli and Les Vaguants to create a show that marries dramatic research and happening, Le Meurtre rituel du cochon (‘The ritual murder of the pig’). Pinoncelli prepared for it for several months in the slaughterhouses of Saint-Étienne, his home town. It made big news in the valley and in the art world. Hunters, Catholics, animal rights activists, political parties, and artists come up to support the artists or… the pig. The prefect would like the mayor, Paul Mari d’Antoine (author of Illusoire (Seghers), L’Emploi du temps (Chambelland), recipient of the Jean Villon award, mayor of Coaraze from 1953 to 1971), to outlaw the show, but is not able to connect with him that day… The high priestess and her assistants come down the stairs, leading the pig on a leash. Pinoncelli, completely painted, wearing a real pig head as a mask, begins by crucifying himself on the iron cross at the entrance to the village… The procession enters the village. The pig is attached to a stretcher at the top of the steps leading to the church. Jackie Baviera sits next to the pig to protect it; the opponents yell. The ceremony now moves to the château square for an homage to Gabrielle Russier, whose effigy is burned. Ben, “jealous,” as he would later say, distributes knives to free the sacrificial animal! Pinocelli doesn’t want to renounce unless he is arrested. The police hesitate, wanting to avoid this arrest that they know will be ridiculed by the press… Pinoncelli rides into the vestibule, voluntarily burns his (painted) face, and is picked up by the police officers, holding out his wrists, and is finally led away.

End of the show. End of the Coarazean, avant-garde adventure.