Avignon 2023 will honor English language, women, and nature

The Avignon Festival is preparing for a new edition, taking place from July 5th to 25th, 2023. While big names are displayed, its director, Portuguese stage director Tiago Rodrigues, has made room for new faces of theater, representing 75% of the programming, as well as women who are 55% of the proposers or co-proposers of the proposals, and the English language.

Indeed, this year English will be honored with several shows programmed in English, including plays by British playwrights such as Tim Crouch, Alistair McDowall, and Alexander Zeldin. The festival will also host a play by German stage director Susanne Kennedy and a play by the New York-based company « Elevator Repair Service ».

Alongside new faces, the Avignon Festival will also welcome regulars such as Julien Gosselin, who will present a new five-hour epic play entitled « Extinction », the great Polish stage director Krystian Lupa, and Milo Rau.

First Time

The festival director, Portuguese stage director Tiago Rodrigues, who succeeded Olivier Py in September 2022 for a renewable 4-year term, presented during the festival’s press conference a happy initiative aimed at encouraging the new generation to participate in the festival: « First Time. »

This initiative will allow 5,000 young people to participate in the 2023 edition. In 2022, 15% of the audience came for the first time, one-third of whom were under 30 years old. He aims to maintain a program accessible to all despite budgetary challenges.

Return to the roots

The Avignon Festival is returning to a legendary venue abandoned since 2016: the Carrière de Boulbon, used for the first time in 1985 for Peter Brook’s « Mahabharata. » Philippe Quesne will create « Le Jardin des délices, » a play inspired by the famous painting by Jérôme Bosch.

The Avignon Festival will also be greener this year, with two « epic » shows presented outdoors. « Paysages partagés » will offer seven plays in seven hours under the trees, while « Que ma joie demeure » by Clara Hédouin, based on Jean Giono’s work, will offer six and a half hours of theater and nature walking in Pujaut, in the Grand Avignon.

More women

Although the issue of female representation is not central to the programming of this edition, which rather questions, through the prism of art, the memory, trace, or imprint it leaves on the present, several women stage directors and choreographers are present, thus contributing to the artistic diversity of the festival.

The 2023 Avignon Festival will be marked by the presence of stage directors such as Susanne Kennedy and Clara Hédouin who will present their plays, as well as authors such as Anne-Cécile Vandalem and Magali Mougel or the hip-hop choreographer Bintou Dembélé.

A woman in the Cour d’Honneur

One of the few women to perform in the Cour d’Honneur in 77 years (alongside legendary figures such as Ariane Mnouchkine or Pina Bausch) will be Julie Deliquet. She will present an adaptation of Welfare, a documentary by Frederick Wiseman known for its criticism of American institutions. This creation will showcase « a particular day in the lives of the homeless, stateless, workers, single mothers, and the destitute ».

The director and artistic director since 2020 of the Théâtre Gérard Philipe (National Dramatic Center of Saint-Denis) is known for her adaptations of films, such as Fanny and Alexander by Ingmar Bergman in 2019 for the Comédie-Française.

Overall, the 2023 Avignon Festival promises to be rich in discoveries, surprises, and emotions, with varied shows and talented artists from all over the world. This edition is a must-see for all theater and culture lovers, culminating with By Heart, by Tiago Rodrigues himself. DVDM

Front Picture © Christophe Raynaud de Lage / Festival d’Avignon

With : Clara Hédouin (Que ma joie demeure), Alexander Zeldin (The Confessions), Trajal Harrell (The Romeo), Arthur Amard, Rémi Fortin, Simon Gauchet & Blanche Ripoche (Le Beau Monde), Rébecca Chaillon (Carte noire nommée désir), Mal Pelo (Inventions), Mathilde Monnier (Black Lights), La Maison Tellier & friends (Harvest – Trilogie 72), Tiago Rodrigues (By Heart), Marta Górnicka (Lecture de / Reading of Mothers), Christophe Raynaud de Lage (L’œil présent continue),   Bintou Dembélé (G.R.O.O.V.E.), Julie Deliquet (Welfare), Patrick Corillon (Portrait de l’artiste en ermite ornemental), David Geselson (Neandertal), Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Meskerem Mees, Jean-Marie Aerts & Carlos Garbin (Création 2023), Philippe Quesne (Le Jardin des délices),  Carolina Bianchi & Cara de Cavalo (A Noiva e o Boa Noite Cinderela), Tim Crouch (An Oak Tree),  Elevator Repair Service (Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge),  Caroline Barneaud & Stefan Kaegi (Paysages partagés), Émilie Monnet (Marguerite : le feu), Julien Gosselin (Extinction), Tim Etchells (L’Addition),  Gwenaël Morin (Le Songe), Pauline Bayle (Écrire sa vie), Michikazu Matsune & Martine Pisani (Kono atari no dokoka), Maud Blandel (L’œil nu), Tim Crouch (Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel), Krystian Lupa (Les émigrants),  Susanne Kennedy & Markus Selg (Angela (a strange loop)), Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (En Atendant), Alistair McDowall, Vicky Featherstone & Sam Pritchard (all of it), Patricia Allio (Dispak Dispac’h), Silly Boy Blue (Transformer – Trilogie 72), Milo Rau (Antigone in the Amazon), Léonie Pernet (Ziggy StardUST – Trilogie 72).

Website: www.festival-avignon.com

Did you know it?

The Avignon Festival is a true institution in the world of theater and culture. Since its creation in 1947 by Jean Vilar, it has been able to renew itself and offer an eclectic and ambitious program. The Avignon Festival has also opened its doors to other forms of art, such as dance, cinema, and musical theater. The big names in the world of culture have paraded there, offering the public quality shows and unforgettable moments.

Among the great names of authors, directors, choreographers, or actors who have succeeded each other on the bill are Antoine Vitez, Georges Wilson, Antoine Bourseiller, Marcel Maréchal, Ariane Mnouchkine, Antoine Vitez, Pina Bausch, Jacques Lassalle, Gérard Philipe, Maurice Béjart, Jacques Lassalle, Didier Bezace, Olivier Py, Stanislas Nordey, Angelin Prejlocaj…

The « off », a parallel event to the official festival, has also become an essential meeting place for theater enthusiasts. It allows many independent companies to perform in the streets and unusual places of the city, offering a unique theatrical experience.

Beyond its programming, the Avignon Festival is also a place of meeting and exchange for professionals in the cultural industry. It allows for creating links between different companies, discovering new talents, and stimulating creativity. The Avignon Festival is a major cultural event that contributes to the influence of the city and France abroad.