The History of the Théâtre Gérard
Philipe de Saint-Denis
In 1902 the town commissioned the construction
of a festival hall on the Boulevard Jules Guesde in Saint-Denis. The
metallic frame was designed by the Eiffel building company. This hall
was then curiously remodelled with dressing rooms, galleries and balconies
to house a variety of activities : wrestling matches, plays or operas
and operettas, medal and prize attribution ceremonies, Saturday night
dances, galas and political meetings : a polyvalent building which,
after various modifications, has become today the Théâtre
Gérard Philipe.
The early 1950s
The Théâtre National Populaire experience brought
the theatre art form, this " inaccessible luxury ", to the
working class suburbs, and Jean Vilar and his actors found themselves
performing in this town hall with disastrous accoustics to an empty
house. Hardly a soul for l'Avare by Molière, no more for Büchner's
La Mort de Danton. This venture lasted no longer than a few performances.
In 1960, the Theatre was named Gérard Philipe,
paying tribute to the actor who had died the year before
1960-1966. Jacques Roussillon was the director of the theatre.
In 1963, he pulled the theatre out of obscurity with Arthur Adamov's
Printemps 71, directed by Claude Martin.
At that time, the metro stopped at the brink of the suburbs. Shuttle
systems, reasonably priced tickets, adaptable hours, helped create and
convince an audience in the working class.
In 1965 the theatre was remodelled, the stage was enlarged, the seats
were changed and the house repainted.
1966 - 1976 José Valverde
succeeded Jacques Roussillon.
José Valverde was a former assistant and actor in Jean-Marie
Serreau's theatre company. He had also co-founded the Franc Théâtre
company, which had set out to roam the suburbs. He left Saint-Denis
in 1976 after ten years of team work (the company had nine permanent
actors), of dreams, of hope, of cultural activity in business firms,
in schools, in public markets and in working class housing developments.
On the theatre's stage José Valverde's productions alternated
with those of Jacques Luccioini and his company, the Centre lyrique
populaire de France.
In 1968 the theatre was torn down and then renovated, transformed
and technically improved.
1976 - 1986 René Gonzalez
became the director of the Théâtre Gérard Philipe
(1)
After graduating from the Ecole de la rue Blanche (ENSATT),René
Gonzalez worked in José Valverdes company, as an actor,
as an administrator and later as co-director in charge of programming.
When José Valverde resigned, René Gonzalez was immediately
assigned the job of director of the theatre, which was then uniquely
subsidised by the town (the state grant from the ministery of culture
had been withdrawn, for at the time it was given to directors of companies
and not theatres). René Gonzalez then rapidly developed means
of production, and with an excellent choice of productions, he turned
the Théâtre Gérard Philipe into one of the greatest
theatres of the Paris area. He helped the discovery of Le Groupe TSE
(Alfredo Arias) with the first version of Peines de cur dune
chatte anglaise, and produced La Bête dans la jungle with`Delphine
Seyrig and Sami Frey ; he programmed Klaüs-Mikaël Grüber
with Sur la grand-route by Chekhov at the Spanish chapel in La Plaine
Saint-Denis and DellInferno, directed by André Engel, performed
on the railway tracks between the Gare du Nord station and La Plaine
Saint-Denis.
During that period, he travelled all over Europe and brought back new
productions unknown in France by Giovanna Marini, Hauser Okater (Les
Chiens Mexicains), Mike Figgis, Jan Fabre, Mechtild Grossmann, Megumi
Satsu, etc.
A number of artists and singers among which Michel Hermon, Anna Prucnal,
Richard Bohringer, performed in the Terrier (a small basement
cabaret house in the theatre), while on the main stage appeared great
actors such as Gérard Desarthe, Philippe Clévenot, David
Warrilow, Alain Ollivier. or new directors made their debuts such as
Saskia Cohen-Tanugi with her refreshing and innovative Merchant of Venice
starring Denis Lavant.
January 1st, 1983, the Théâtre Gérard
Philipe became a Centre Dramatique National de création
et de diffusion dramatiques.
1986 - 1989 Daniel Mesguich succeeded René
Gonzalez. He was 33 years old, had studied with Antoine Vitez and Pierre
Debauche at the National Conservatory, and had founded a theatre company
combined with an acting school called Le Théâtre du Miroir.
1989 - 1997 Jean-Claude Fall succeeded Daniel
Mesguich as director of the Théâtre Gérard Philipe.
He came from the Théâtre de la Bastille, where since 1982
he had programmed the most inventive proposals in contemporary theatre
at the time.
He directed four Chekhov plays - Ivanov, Platonov, The Three Sisters,
Uncle Vania - all in one single season. In 1992, Chef-lieu, by Alain
Gautré ; in 1993, le Procès de Jeanne dArc, textes
by Bertolt Brecht, Anna Seghers and Charles Péguy, and then Tempête
sur le pays dEgypte by Maurice Taszman, adapted by Pierre Laville
; Voyage au pays sonore ou lart de la question by Peter Handke
in 1995, Hercule Furieux and Hercule sur lOeta by Sénèque
in 1996.
Jean-Claude Fall initiated the idea of a director and a company of actors
as part of the permanent staff and technical crew of the theatre. He
thus established a cycle of residences with :
1991-1994 Stanislas Nordey and his company
1992-1994 Catherine Anne
1994-1996 Le Théâtre Cazaril (Antoine Caubet, Elisabeth
Moreau, Claire Aveline and Thierry Paret)
1996-1997 Le Théâtre des Lucioles
He also programmed festivals among which Africolor (a three evening
African music festival during the Christmas season directed by Philipe
Conrath, with musicians from Africa, Madagascar, and the island of Reunion)
and Enfantillages en Seine-Saint-Denis, a youth theatre festival for
little and big people which reached its 8th year in 1997,
in collaboration with the Cargo of Grenoble.
Since 1993 the large house has been called Roger Blin and the old stage
curtain has been replaced by a famous Carré Basculé
(tilted square), six meters high and ten meters wide, by the
artist François Morellet.
Stanislas Nordey succeeded Jean-Claude Fall in
1998.
He returned to the Théâtre Gérard Philipe after
three years spent with the actors of his company in residence at the
Théâtre de Nanterre-Amandiers.
He developed a project called Théâtre Citoyen
and staked the success of his project on keeping the theatre open all
year long, on a unique ticket price of 50 francs, and on the production
and programming of young companies and new playwrights.
In Passions civiles (2), published by the Editions La Passe du Vent,
Stanislas Nordey and Valérie Lang present their project and their
analysis of the crisis years at the Théâtre Gérard
Philipe de Saint-Denis.
Stanislas Nordey voluntarily left the direction of the Théatre
Gérard Philipe on December 31st, 2001.
Alain Ollivier has been nominated director of
the theatre as of january 1st 2002.
Notes
(1) Du Théâtre comme il nétait pas à
prévoir mais comme il est à espérer. Le Théâtre
Gérard Philipe de Saint-Denis. By Dominique Darzacq. Editions
Solin.1985
(2) The Manifeste pour un Théâtre Citoyen ,
1998 is included in this edition.
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