The Avignon Festival will take place from July 7 to 26 for its 76th editing. This will be an opportunity to discover at least one of these 10 pieces.
All the summaries of the pieces can be found on the to place of the Avignon Festival.
My exalted youth,of the director of the Festival d’Avignon Olivier Py
For his last edition at the head of the Festival d’Avignon, Olivier Py presents a flight of 10 hours on ” indomitable youth “. The main character is Harlequin, a mythical figure of comedy who becomes ” the flamboyant hero of a quest for transcendence “. For this epic Olivier Py appeals to his lifelong companions but also to a new generation of performers.
The Black Monk by Kirill Serebrennikov
The Russian director and filmmaker will adapt the short story by the famous poet Antone Chekhov from 1894. This tells the story of Andrei Kovrin, an intellectual carried away by his hopes for freedom and greatness who decides to take a rest in the countryside with his friend and his daughter. But there appears the ghost of a monk who haunts his stay and makes him sink into madness. The filmmaker presents this piece after having been the subject of calls for a boycott despite his anti-war position.
ANIMA by Noémie Goudal and Maëlle Poésy
Through a video and musical device and the performance of the artist, ANIMA exposes the audience to a physical sensation of time. The piece, inspired by research in paleoclimatology and studies on our perception of enclosed environments, focuses on ” invisible metamorphoses of the landscapes and places with which we live “. ANIMA goes so far as to ask us about our needs for spatial and temporal landmarks.
Iphigenia by Anne Theron
For this Avignon Festival, Anne Théron readjusts the ancient myth of the Atreides family. The king of Mycenae Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to summon the winds to rally Troy to win the war. But in this version written by Tiago Rodrigues, the destiny of men no longer depends on the will of the gods. Their choice is therefore made even more difficult.
ash nest by Simon Falguieres
13 hours. This is the duration of this play by the young playwright and director Simon Falguières. ash nest tells the story of a real-life comedian and a fictional princess who will eventually merge on set. It is thus the world of dreams and the world of actuality which must unite to save themselves. This river show, the longest of the Festival d’Avignon 2022, consists of 7 pieces and performers by 17 actors with 60 characters and 200 costumes.
Richard II by Christophe Rauck
Christophe Rauck adapts Shakespeare’s masterpiece inspired by the reign of Richard II of England. In this play, the latter banishes Henry Bolingbroke who asks him for justice for the murder of the Duke of Gloucester. However, it is Richard II himself who is a murderer and who puts his reign and his kingdom in danger following his decision. The work offers a reflection on the exercise of power but also on the people.
Storm by Alessandro Serra
The Italian director is also adapting a work by William Shakespeare for this Festival d’Avignon 2022. This is the second time for him after his adaptation macbettu in Sardinian language. The piece involves the spectators in another world by adding a political dimension to the work. But the adaptation of Alessandro Serra is above all a real tribute to the theater.
The seventh day by Meng Jinghui
In this play, Chinese director Meng Jinghui takes an interest in life after death by adapting Yu Hua’s novel. The protagonist Yang Fei has just died in an explosion and meets other dead people including members of his family but also chess players. The seventh day thus depicts this world full of wanderings and miscellaneous facts.
Anaïs Nin in the mirror by Elise Vigier
” The action takes place on a theater stage where lies a caloge, a hut made from the carcass of a fishing boat. Actors there reproduce a play about the life and work of the Franco-Cuban writer Anaïs Nin. But it ends up appearing, ghostly, and haunting the words of the actors. This work constitutes an investigation into reality but also a true eulogy to art as a support for deciding one’s own destiny.
Lonely by Sofia Adrian Jupiter
Based on the work of Swedish poet and director Lars Norén, Lonely depicts a group of people locked in an economic room who must survive this situation. The characters then find themselves alone facing themselves and facing the group, without landmarks. The dialogue ” prosaic, humorous and distraught » gives way to « human destinies that echo us “.
So there will be something for everyone during this 76th edition of the Avignon Festival!