Festival d'Avignon 2014: what to book

Like the Edinburgh Fringe's French sister, the Festival d'Avignon offers a vast array of public theatre, performed in the idyllic surroundings of Provence, from 4-27 July.

Olivier Py , writer, director, and former artistic director of the Théâtre de l’Odéon, is at the helm of the Festival d’Avignon for the first time this year.  His inaugural direction returns to the sense of festivity and atmosphere with which founder Jean Vilars defined for the festival:  “ le ciel, la nuit, le texte, le peuple, la fête .”

Transgressing the Festival’s usual reputation for elitism, Py aims to create an environment of “popular education”. This new direction translates into extended runs of shows featuring more emerging artists as well as increasing the accessibility of the festival to younger audiences. 

Booking has just opened. Make sure you check that language of the plays and their running times (Avignon is not familiar with the 90-minute format). 

Here's Culture Whisper's top picks:

IVO VAN HOVE'S THE FOUNTAINHEAD  (La Source vive), by Ayn Rand, performed at Cour du Lycée St Joseph

In Dutch with French subtitles

Based on the novel The Fountainhead, a bestseller upon its publication in 1943, written by Russian writer Ayn Rand,  Ivo van Hove ’s play questions the status of the artist in a capitalist society. Burrowing into the inner conflict of whether to satisfy the immediate and demanding needs of your audience or to feed and nurture your creativity we are lead to questions, not judgments. Ivo Van Hove ( A View from a Bridge at the Young Vic) is the ‘it’ European director of the moment. Renowned for staging disturbing dilemmas in a radical way, he is the artist not to miss.

13,15, 16, 17, 18, 19 July at 9 pm; r unning time : 3 hr 30 mins.  Click  here  to book.

OLIVIER PY'S ORLANDO, OU L’IMPATIENCE (Orlando or Impatience) performed at LA FabricA

In French

Olivier Py opens his run as director of the Festival d’Avignon with a comedy about a son who looks for the father he’s never known. As Orlando meets each potential father he enters a new theatrical form.  Poetic and epic at the same time, this new play created with Py’s long time scenographer Pierre-Andre Weiltz, is a journey questioning our modern times and telling us of the impenetrable strength of the theatre. 

5,6,7/9,10,11,12/14,15,16 July at 6 pm; running time: 3 hr 30 mins.  Click  here  to book.

OLIVIER PY'S VITRIOLI, by Yannis Mavritsakis performed at Gymnase Paul Giera

In Greek with French subtitles

A commission by the National Theatre of Greece , the play is the story of a family set against the backdrop of crisis. Its main character is a young man who is aware of his inability to do anything and to escape other people's desires. Mavritsakis holds a mirror up to his country and to the anxieties of a youth that has lost all spirituality.

10,11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 at 10 pm; running  time : 1 hr 30 mins. Click  here  to book.

EMMA DANTE'S LASORELLE MACALUSO, performed at Gymnase du Lycée Mistral

A poetic tribute to southern Italy , we watch seven sisters arguing and reviewing their lives. Simultaneously straddling farce and tragedy, this show makes use of the art of body language and revels in the contradictory nature of innocence. 

7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15 July at 3 pm; r unning time: 1hr 10 mins.  Click here to book.

CHRISTIAN SCHIARETTI'S MAI, JUIN, JUILLET  (May, June, July),  by Denis Guénoun

In French

The Théâtre de l'Odéon is under siege. Dozens of angry youths have decided to occupy this temple dedicated to a bourgeois culture—for proof, one only need look at the gilded décor, the red curtains, even the repertoire. Using Denis Guénoun's text as a starting point, Christian Schiaretti recreates the events of 1968. This review of the recent history of French theatre follows young actors whose number and energy convey the ebullient spirit of May, the studious elation of June, and the rebellious enthusiasm of July.  

14, 15, 16, 18, 19 July; running time 3 hr 40 mins including intermission. Click here to book.

OLIVIER PY'S LA JEUNE FILLE, LE DIABLE ET LE MOULIN, based on the Brothers Grimm, performed at Chapelle des Penitents Blancs

Young Audience Show

In French

This show is aimed at ages 7 and up, reinforcing Oliver Py’s intentions of opening the festival up to a younger audience. A 2014 recreation adapted from the Brothers Grimm stories, it is an initiation journey, a dark fairy tale boasting music and a poetic scenography. Not to be missed.

23, 24, 25, 26, 27 July. Click here to book.

THOMAS JOLLY'S HENRY VI, by  William Shakespeare performed at  La FabricA

In French

Thomas Jolly is a young prodigy, who only graduated from drama school in 2006, stating that he wanted to create a theatre which is “challenging, popular and festive”. Four years of work culminates in an 18 hour performance, punctuated with 7 intermissions as he stages the colossal project of adapting William’s Shakespeare Henry VI. It is the show everyone is talking about. A risky bet but the experience should be exciting.

21, 24, 26 July: estimated running time: 18 hr incl. 7 intermissions. Click here to book.

THOMAS OSTERMEIER'S  DIE EHE DER MARIA BRAUN (Le Marriage de Maria Braun) by  Rainer Werner Fassbinder performed at Cour du Lycée Saint Joseph

In German with French subtitles

The action of the play takes place in post war Germany and focuses on the fall of women as a result of male ego and the general social and economic environment. Protagonist Maria Braun is not only isolated due to her gender but also by her hopeful outlook on the world in such dire times. The texts chosen by Thomas Ostermeier, classics and contemporary texts alike, all deal with “the existential conflicts of the individual, and with the political, economic, and social conflicts of our time.” An absolute must. 

23,24, 25, 26, 27 July at 10 pm: running time 1 hr 45 min. Click here to book.

DENIS GUÉNOUN & L'INSTITUT SUPÉRIEUR DES TECHNIQUES DU SPECTACLE,  LES PAUVRES GENS (How Good are the Poor), by Victor Hugo, performed at Gymnase du Lycée St Joseph

In French

Part of La Légende des Siècles, a depiction of the history of humanity.  Denis Guénoun is working with a team of engineers rather than artists, allowing him to use their knowledge and the practical means at their disposal to transfigure the real. A show made by a philosopher : it should be a distinctive theatre experience.

24, 24, 26th July ;running time : 50 min. Click here to book.

DANCE

ROBYN ORLIN'S  AT THE SAME TIME WE WERE POINTING A FINGER AT YOU, WE REALIZED WE WERE POINTING THREE AT OURSELVES… performed at  Gymnase Aubanel

In this show, Robyn Orlin questions why the body is so rarely the object of reflection in Africa. She investigates how the body can, both in an intimate and in a political sense, be at stake in relationships of power, between domination and emancipation.

13, 14, 15, 16 17, 18 July at 8 pm. Click here to book.

JULIE NOCHE'S MATTER, performed at Theatre Benoit XII

Julie Nioche works on the many representations of the female body, with each performer maintaining her own space whilst also supporting her companions. Nioche’s visual world, made of paper dresses and bubbles is bold, poetic and inspiring. 

20 to 27 July; running time: 55min. Click here to book.

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