October 2007

HIGHLIGHTS

	Le Cabaret des hommes perdus \| Christian Siméon \| A face to face talk with Christian Siméon
	« ... Everything moves forward in blazing flashes. My writing style benefited from my training as a sculptor, from what sculpture is to me — I mean working on something as a whole. In a class (I teach sculpture) beginning students often ask me where to start. I answer that they have to start everywhere. No particular line is more important than another. It’s the same in theatre. [...] »

	Je tremble (1) \| Joël Pommerat \| Theatre that is both anthropological and poetic
	« ... This has been Pommerat’s approach as a playwright from the beginning – writing so that bodies and voices could appropriate the words and make them resonate in a way that confronts the spectator with their truth, sometimes their violence, and always their power. [...] » Philippe Hénain

Du vent… des fantômes | Eve Bonfanti, Yves Hunstad | To play or not to play, that is the question…

THE JOURNALIST : Hold on, what you say is very interesting, but when you say “nothing”, do you really mean “nothing”? You mean with no rehearsal, is that it?
THE ACTRESS : We have a basic premis, of course, but apart from that, yes, I mean absolutely nothing!
THE JOURNALIST : It must be fascinating to launch yourself like that into the emptiness of the complete unknown. But, all the same, it would be legitimate to question why you don’t rather tackle a classical author.
THE ACTRESS : Well, for the moment, we would rather not tackle an author… who has done nothing to us!

	Les Coréens \| Michel Vinaver \| in Korean in France!
	Created in Seoul in November 2006 and directed by Marion Schoevaert and Byun Jung Joo at the Seongnam Art Center with the Wuturi company (6 musicians and 13 actors), this production will be coming to the Scène national Evreux Louviers from the 27th March to the 1st April 2008. « I was able to attend the opening night. It was an extraordinarily powerful and beautiful piece of theatre. The emotion was wonderful from everyone. » Michel Vinaver
	www.inparentheses.org \| www.tesn.org
	more about this event in next Actes du Théâtre newsletter…

	Burn Baby Burn \| Carine Lacroix
	It’s about telling stories to question identity – your own and other people’s – and maybe to gain a better understanding. But they are simple stories which are full of laughter and dreams.
	Éditions l’Avant-Scène Collection Les Quatre-Vents

	Je suis la bête \| Anne Sibran
	I wanted to reverse the perspective, to tell a story where for once compassion was on the animal’s side. Instead of man, this time it’s the beast that hears the child, a creature of clay shaped first by one then the other.
	Éditions Gallimard

NEWS FROM ABROAD

PROMOTION ABROAD

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL PROJECTS

	GERMANY \| Translations/Performances
	Petit \| Catherine Anne Amitiés sincères \| St. Archinard, Fr. Prévôt-Leygonie Le Mioche \| Philippe Aufort Toc Toc \| Laurent Baffie Fleur de Cactus (version Berlin) \| Barillet, Grédy Quatre pièces sur jardin \| Barillet, Grédy Les Copropriétaires \| Gérard Darier La Nuit même pas peur \| Claudine Galea La Valse des pingouins \| Patrick Haudecoeur L'Européenne \| David Lescot Terre Sainte \| Mohamed Kacimi III \| Philippe Malone Surprise et Conséquences \| S. Martin, E. Dabbous Coup de Soleil \| Marcel Mithois L'Intrus \| Alain Reynaud-Fourton Monsieur Amédée \| Alain Reynaud-Fourton Chocolat Piment \| Christine Reverho Le Cabaret des hommes perdus \| Christian Siméon
	AUSTRALIA \| Translations/Performances
	Hilda \| Marie NDiaye
	CHILI \| Translations/Performances
	Oscar et la dame rose \| Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
	CHINA \| Translations/Performances
	Le Dîner de cons \| Francis Veber
	SPAIN \| Translations/Performances
	Les Règles du savoir-vivre dans la société moderne, Dernier Remords avant l’oubli \| Jean-Luc Lagarce L'Ordinaire, Les Voisins \| Michel Vinaver
	UNITED STATES \| Translations/Performances
	Terre Sainte \| Mohamed Kacimi Ca va \| Philippe Minyana Oscar et la dame Rose \| Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt Alexandra David-Néel et la magie ordinaire \| William Snow , J. Hafkin Le Cabaret des hommes perdus \| Christian Siméon
	ICELAND \| Translations/Performances
	Le Collier d’Hélène \| Carole Fréchette Petits Crimes conjugaux \| Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
	ISRAEL \| Translations/Performances
	Terre Sainte \| Mohamed Kacimi
	ITALIA \| Translations/Performances
	La Dernière Salve \| Jean-Claude Brisville Le Mal de mère \| M. Feldmann, P.O. Scotto Le Tigre bleu de l'Euphrate \| Laurent Gaudé Le Murmonde \| Serge Kribus Perlino Comment, Albatros \| Fabrice Melquiot Le Diable en partage \| Fabrice Melquiot Autour de ma pierre il ne fera pas nuit, Ma vie de chandelle \| Fabrice Melquiot Le Laveur de visage, L'Inattendu \| F. Melquiot Les Serpents, Hilda \| Marie NDiaye Le Garçon Girafe \| Christophe Pellet La Fuite \| Gao Xingjian
	POLAND \| Translations/Performances
	Venise sous la neige \| Gilles Dyrek Post-it \| Carole Greep III \| Philippe Malone Le Carton \| Clément Michel Tout contre un petit bois \| Jean-Michel Ribes Oscar et la dame rose \| Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
	CZECH REPUBLIC \| Translations/Performances
	Rue de Babylone \| Jean-Marie Besset Venise sous la neige \| Gilles Dyrek La Valse des pingouins \| Patrick Haudecoeur Chocolat Piment \| Christine Reverho
	UNITED KINGDOM\| Translations/Performances
	Trans'aheliennes \| Rodrigue Norman Cet enfant \| Joël Pommerat Le Petit Chaperon rouge \| Joël Pommerat Le Cabaret des hommes perdus \| Christian Siméon
	SWEDEN \| Translations/Performances
	Crocus et Fracas \| Catherine Anne

	LABOO7 \| a European Project for a network of contemporary theatre for children and young people
	The project was launched during the Swedish Theatre Biennial in Örebro in May 2007. Karin Serres and Erik Uddenberg have written the following report. marie.kraft@ccs.si.se \| sandrine.grataloup@sacd.fr
	PLAYWRIGHTS CORNER \| Karin Serres
	« How can one understand another country’s theatre? How is it possible to understand all the differences and make oneself faithfully receptive to the texts and performances? »
	PLAYWRIGHTS CORNER \| Erik Uddenberg
	« The concept of collaboration between writer and director, and writing on commission, which is the normal situation in Sweden, is very odd to the French. »

	La Sala Beckett \| Obrador Internacional de Dramaturgia
	A reference and a driving force in new playwriting, as well as an international centre for new theatre and experimentation. This summer Claire Rengade and Sylvain Levey wrote a diary while attending the International Playwriting Workshop. www.salabeckett.cat \| obrador@salabeckett.com
	PLAYWRIGHTS CORNER \| Claire Rengade
	« And while listening to other people’s texts, I had a strange feeling of liking the piece – although I couldn’t grasp the actual words. Then I’d make up new words to show them I could feel how they were trying to come up with something I’d like. I didn’t know the words at first. I made them up as we went along. Then I wrote them down.»
	PLAYWRIGHTS CORNER \| Sylvain Levey
	« A friend asked me this: « What does a trip like that do for you? ». « It helps you ask the right questions and drop the things you thought you knew for sure.»

	Fonds Etant Donnés \| award-winners
	The aim of this Franco-American fund to encourage American institutions to stage productions by contemporary French playwrights and in the United States. The news is its decision to support circus productions. www.facecouncil.org

	Scène 10 \| publication of French works in German
	Featured in this issue : Philippe Aufort, Jean Cagnard, Daniel Danis, Joël Jouanneau, Fabrice Melquiot, Joël Pommerat. www.kultur-frankreich.de

	Le Dîner de cons ... in China and in Chinese !
	The play has been a huge hit, opening in Shanghai in the summer of 2007 and now on tour around China. Yuyao Carlot, who co-translated Le Dîner de cons into Mandarin with Zhiping Hou, responds to some of our questions about the current status of theatre in China. www.dashan.com \| http://shanghaiist.com
	PLAYWRIGHTS CORNER \| Yuyao Carlot
	« Text-based theatre was first imported in 1907 in China. This year, 2007, is thus its one hundredth anniversary.»

	Publication Act French Contemporary Plays from France
	Edited, with an introduction, by Philippa Wehle. Featured in this issue : Michel Vinaver, Michèle Sigal, Olivier Cadiot, Valère Novarina, Philippe Minyana, Emmanuelle Marie, José Pliya