2023-06-04 18:04:55
Legs crossed, shoes and vermilion stockings, for the past few days the Rond-Point has been displaying color with this photograph which appeared on the Morris columns of the capital. A few handwritten letters, in a circular design, simply indicate “theater of the roundabout”. The pot-bellied elf, who had served as a totem for the famous Parisian hall for twenty years, retired at the same time as his inspiration Jean-Michel Ribes, master of the place since 2002.
As a page in its history is turned, the theater puts on its new finery. While waiting for the ripolining planned for the summer, Laurence de Magalhaes and Stéphane Ricordel wanted to establish a visual identity in the image of their project: “Fresh, joyful, unpretentious, accessible…”they hope, a few days before their baptism of fire.
The importance of programming
After the announcement of their appointment, by the Minister of Culture and the Mayor of Paris, in March 2022, the couple, who ran the Monfort theater (Paris 15e) since 2009 as well as the Festival Paris l’été since 2016, officially took office in January 2023. This Monday, June 5, they unveil the 2023-2024 season, their very first. “A direction is above all a program”emphasizes Stéphane Ricordel.
“You don’t transform a theater in a seasoncontinues Laurence de Magalhaes. And it is above all not a question of making a clean sweep of the past! We hope to attract a new audience without scaring away the old. We have decided to ensure continuity, while imprinting our stamp through an openness to the world, a multidisciplinary program that mixes theater, dance, puppets, circus, etc. »
try things
The season will open with One Songthe totally unclassifiable show by the Belgian Miet Warlop, sensation of the Avignon Festival 2022. The Renaud-Barrault hall will also welcome artists such as Emma Dante, the choreographer Fouad Boussouf, the director Jean-François Sivadier or even Marc Lainé for series of 10 performances, on average.
“We try thingssays Laurence de Magalhaes. The large room alone has 700 seats, it must be filled! In the current context, we have almost no room for error. For the finances but also for the teams, the artists… This first season is fundamental. » Especially since they succeed an emblematic director, Jean-Michel Ribes, a true incarnation of the Rond-Point since 2002 and still never very far from the place.
A first season as a test
Claire Dupont, former co-director of the Théâtre de la Cité internationale in Paris, has just settled down at the Théâtre de la Bastille, in the eponymous district of Paris. Appointed in February 2023, she succeeds Jean-Marie Hordé who left office in June 2022. “I was 9 years old when Jean-Marie Hordé arrived here, she notes. He stayed there for thirty-three years, that’s quite a story! »
For her too, the first season will look like a test with an audience of regulars. We will find there some faithful of the establishment, like Nicolas Bouchaud or Nathalie Béasse, but also the faces of a young generation, like Raphaëlle Rousseau. “To take the lead of a theatre, explains Claire Dupont, it’s giving it a new memory, like a palimpsest: the stories are never completely erased and we rewrite over them. »
Dare to step aside
At the Théâtre national populaire (TNP) in Villeurbanne, Jean Bellorini, in place for three years, had to deal with a legacy marked by the tutelary figure of Roger Planchon (director between 1972 and 2002), who was succeeded by Christian Schiaretti until 2019. « Must Shaving followed in the footsteps of his predecessors and always daring to step aside, Note Jean Bellorini. A sincere direction is a direction that resembles us. Affirm the continuity of these previous 100 years by daring to say: “Now it is today that counts.” Theater is present and alive. »
The forties took office in January 2020, the year of the centenary of the NPT, a few weeks before the eruption of the Covid. “The theater was closed for a yearhe recalls. This allowed us to start from scratch but without any desire to erase the past. By force of circumstance and through multiple reschedulings, the choices fell more easily on the new project. »
Rely on teams
Jean Bellorini, who had directed the Gérard-Philippe Theater in Saint-Denis between 2014 and 2019, moved to Villeurbanne with his team of collaborators. “I didn’t want to arrive alonehe confides. There were four of us, which for a house of this size (75 employees) was relatively large, but retirements and retraining in the previous team allowed things to go smoothly. »
At the Bastille, Claire Dupont took the reins of a team already in place. “I had to fit in, she acknowledges. But I was carried by the strength of this collective. » Laurence de Magalhaes and Stéphane Ricordel also arrived alone or almost: Inu, the friendly golden retriever who takes a nap in a corner of their office, was also adopted by the employees of the theater, about sixty permanent. If the duo of directors displays a good understanding with the staff in place, it must also build a relationship with the public. “The only way is to be presentsays Laurence de Magalhaes. We are there on performance nights, for us it’s like having people at home. »
Brunches and daycare
And like any tenant taking possession of their home, the tandem intends to review the interior decoration. The work will take place during the summer for a more refined aesthetic. The openers will also abandon the uniforms, in force for a long time, for more sober outfits only stamped with the logo.
The restaurant has also begun its transformation with the arrival of the new chef, Martin Ndjock. “We want there to be proposals for all budgets, all desiressays Stéphane Ricordel. Like the bookstore, the restaurant is part of the life of the theatre. We also hope to attract families with Sunday brunches or the establishment of daycare during certain performances. In short, we want to try a lot of things! » The adventure has only just begun.
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Highlights of the new season
► At the roundabout. One Song by Flemish Belgian artist Miet Warlop, from September 12 to 1is october, Feu by Fouad Boussouf, from October 18 to 21, Sentinels by Jean-François Sivadier, from January 30, 2024 to February 10…
Clean. : theatredurondpoint.fr
► At the Villeurbanne TNP. Besides the recovery of Storm under a skull according to Wretched by Victor Hugo, from September 14 to 30, Diary of Love by Natalia Ginzburg staged by Nanni Moretti, from November 30 to December 7, National Education by François Hien from January 9 to 19, 2024…
Clean. : tnp-villeurbanne.com
► At the Bastille.Blind Runner by the Iranian Amir Reza Koohestani, from October 5 to 20, The Great Tide by Simon Gauchet, from November 9 to 24, It bounces bounces and in your face it explodes from Catalans Agnès Mateus & Quim Tarrida…
Clean. : theatre-bastille.com
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