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Avignon Festival 2022: "Do theater when others risk their lives"

Olivier Py, artistic director of the Festival d'Avignon 2022. © Christophe Raynaud de Lage / Festival d'Avignon

Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow

5 mins

The artistic director of the Festival d'Avignon, Olivier Py, presented this Friday March 25 in Paris the program for the 2022 edition which will take place from July 7 to 26.

A Russian creation and a Ukrainian show frame this 76th edition marked by resilience, and in resonance with today's world.

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Olivier Py

It's a work by

, an Afghan refugee and activist visual artist.

His image touched us and last night we learned that the Taliban would ban school for girls.

It's as if the poster was prophetic of this bad news...

In the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes, the Festival d'Avignon opens its 76th edition with a Russian play by a Russian director,

, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, and the festival will end with the Dakh Daughters, Ukrainian artists.

How has the war in Ukraine influenced, or even dictated the framework of this 2022 edition

The war in Ukraine took us by surprise.

The festival was already very largely built at that time, but we wanted to make this gesture, to close the festival with the presence of the Ukrainians.

It turns out that Kirill Serebrennikov had planned to come and create a show in the Cour d'honneur more than two years ago.

Today, we are very happy to welcome him.

It's a show based on The

, a little-known short story by Chekhov.

In my opinion, Serebrennikov is one of the greatest artists alive today in Russia, even though he had

with the Putin regime.

Beyond the Dakh Daughters, have you had any contact with directors or actors in Ukraine?

What can be the role of theater in a country under bombs and presided over by Volodymyr Zelensky, a former actor

The attack on Ukraine is also an attack on Europe, on democracy and a certain idea of ​​culture.

I would also say that there is a narrative war.

It is clear that the story that Vladimir Putin can tell about Ukraine is not that of the Ukrainians.

And beyond blood, iron and fire, there is also a fight in the narrative.

We must therefore give all the floor to the Ukrainians who are currently a true example of heroism, courage and at the same time intelligence.

And intelligence of democracy.

Do actors and directors continue to create in Ukraine, to be artists, beyond being obliged to defend their country

I don't live in kyiv.

I don't have much knowledge of the Ukrainian theatrical world.

We cannot judge.

Nor can we judge Russian artists who cannot express themselves.

This is far too difficult a situation.

But it is certain that it may seem ridiculous to us to do theater at a time when others are risking their lives.

What they are doing is certainly more serious, bigger, more dangerous and perhaps more important than our little wooden theater.

However, our wooden theater remains as aware as possible of what is happening in Ukraine.

Already in the days of Covid and lockdowns, many had the impression of a shrinking world.

With the war in Ukraine, this feeling seems to be growing even more.

Do you think the world of theater has also shrunk lately

No, I never felt like the theatrical world was shrinking.

But it is true that we have had two extremely difficult years for the theater world, all over the world.

We'll get back to it.

We too are going to show resilience.

Much of the Festival 2022 program is devoted to the very idea of ​​resilience.

It is the resilience of the artists who have seen their performances cancelled, sometimes their relationship with the public compromised.

But, finally, at the Festival d'Avignon, the public never gave up.

We saw it last year.

The public is always present, faithful and fervent.

It is the public that makes us strong.

Among the artists, there is Rasha Omran from Cairo (

), Amala Dianor from Johannesburg (

), Henri Jules Julien from Casablanca (

)… What is the place of Africa in the programming? of this year

There is a large southern plaza in general.

In my opinion, the Festival d'Avignon had some gaps in its awareness of the South, especially of southern Europe.

This year there is a very strong presence from the Middle East, for example four Palestinian shows.

It's almost a focus around Palestine, driven in particular by the show of

(

), which celebrates Mahmoud Darwich, and that of

,

, who works in Haifa.  

The audience of the Festival d'Avignon is particularly close to your heart.

After this trying time of the Covid pandemic and today with this war in Ukraine, do you feel any new needs or new demands in relation to theater among spectators

The public theater in France is not called "public" for nothing.

This means that he must ask himself the question of the public.

We must always constantly ask ourselves the question of the public.

It is not obvious.

It is not enough to open the doors for the public to enter.

It is not enough to believe in the virtue of success for the halls to be full.

No, it's activist work.

Not only so that the public is present, but also so that it is present in its social and generational diversity.

It's a job we know how to do.

We hope that there will still be men and women to do so in the years to come.

► The program of the Festival d'Avignon 2022

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