Les enfants de Chéreau

At the heart of the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers project, which he led from 1982 to 1990, Patrice Chéreau envisioned a school for actors that would be “a permanent workshop,” a laboratory for young talents, a unique space for work and freedom for future actors. The complete opposite of a conservatory or a national school. Chéreau entrusted the direction to his friend Pierre Romans . The school only operated over 2 sessions (1982-84 and 1986-87), but it made its mark in history, especially the second group, many of whom—such as Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi, Marc Citti, Marianne Denicourt, Thibault de Montalembert, and Vincent Perez—later became prominent figures in French theater and cinema.

In April 2024, Les Enfants de Chéreau was staged and read by Marc Citti, with the actor-students of La Belle Troupe from Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, as part of an evening conceived by Christophe Rauck and his teams, based on an initial idea by Valérie Six, in partnership with the “Transmission Chéreau” association and was a huge success.

Au Contraire Productions is considering staging a solo version of this text by Marc Citti for the next season.

“In 1982, Patrice Chéreau, alongside Catherine Tasca, took over the direction of the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre. He proposed a school where students would be immersed at the very heart of the vibrant activities of the place, at the crossroads of theater, cinema, opera, and music—a school where their work as experimentalists would permeate even the highest echelons of the Amandiers, a school, according to Pierre Boulez's words, where one could 'look at oneself in the mirror of inexperience.' This story covers the period from 1986 to 1989, the two years of the second group of the École des Amandiers, which I had the chance to join, and the eighteen months of companionship with Chéreau that followed, which led us, my fellow students and I, to the Cour d’honneur of the Palais des Papes in Avignon, for a Hamlet that remains etched in many memories.” — Marc Citti

DISTRIBUTION

Marc Citti
Published by
Actes Sud, in the Apprendre collection
Directed by
Stéphane Cottin with Marc Citti
Photo by
Ros Ribas

DATES

No forthcoming dates

USEFUL INFO