It was described by Emile Zola in “l’Assommoir”. The modern Parisian Lavoir, located at 35, rue Léon, in the heart of Goutte-d’Or, in the 18th arrondissement of the capital, is on the verge of dying despite its notoriety.
Supported by the City, then vilified, this little theater is now being thrown out, having been pre-empted by the City two years ago. The company that animates it, Graines de soleil, must return its lease and leave the premises so that a call for projects can be organized. “It’s totally unreadable, squeaked a fortnight ago Me Philippe Péricaud, the company’s lawyer. Especially since it is a commercial lease which absolutely does not require a call for tenders, any lawyer knows that. »
To support its occupants in their fight, a vast petition has just been launched. Among the first signatories, Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize for Literature. The objective is simple: to push back the City and thus challenge the mayor (PS) of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, in order to save the Lavoir. A place transformed in the 1960s into an atypical performance hall, with obvious cachet. Since 2008, even if its existence is regularly threatened, the theater has always resisted.
But the City seems determined. During the last Council of Paris, Carine Rolland, assistant to the town hall of Paris in charge of culture, had thus declared: “I plead for a conciliation, since it is a high place of the Goutte-d’Or dedicated to the theatrical creation that we made sure to acquire. But it is a place, not an association, which has been pre-empted, so that cultural activity is preserved there. Renouncing competition is a no. »