Paris (AFP)
La Nuit des Molières, which awards the most prestigious prizes in French theater, will be held without audience and will be broadcast on June 23 on France 2, with Isabelle Adjani named in the best actress category.
The annual ceremony, which was to be held on May 11 at the Châtelet, will take place in the same place but in a format adapted to the health crisis due to the new coronavirus.
"It is a way to celebrate the theater. I wanted to deliver this message of hope when we have no certainty for the moment," Jean-Marc Dumontet, president of Molières, told AFP. the theaters have been stopped since mid-March and despite the start of deconfinement.
Isabelle Adjani, who had started her career at the Comédie-Française, is named in the category best actress in a public theater show, for her role in "Opening Night" after John Cassavetes, directed by Cyril Teste. This is his third Molières nomination.
In the private theater, another figure of the 7th Art, Léa Drucker, is named best actress for "La Dame de chez Maxime" by Feydeau, directed by Zabou Breitman.
Niels Arestrup, Édouard Baer, Sébastien Castro and Guillaume de Tonquédec will compete for the Molière for the best actor in the private sector while Simon Abkarian, Christian Hecq, Philippe Torreton or Michel Vuillermoz could win the same category in the public.
In public theater, a tight duel pitted "La mouche" (6 nominations), a success at Bouffes du nord with "Electre des bas-fonds" (5) at the Théâtre du Soleil, but also "La puce à l'oreille" ( 4) at the Comédie-Française and "Tales and legends" (4) in Nanterre-Amandiers.
In the private sector, the play of the gifted Alexis Michalik theater "A love story" (4 nominations) will face, among other things, "Red" with Niels Arestrup (5).
The humor category is dominated by women for the second consecutive year, with Alex Lutz facing Bérengère Krief, Nora Hamzawi and Muriel Robin.
For the ceremony, "there will be no big show because no audience, but some actors and actresses will be present in the room to tell their trade, and archives of previous editions which are great moments of television will be broadcast" , according to Mr. Dumontet.
Several interventions of dance, music and parodies are also on the program.
The ceremonial of the award ceremony is still under discussion, but will probably change from the traditional opening of the fold containing the name of the winner.
Rare fact, the ceremony will be broadcast in prime time on France 2 (generally it was at the end of the evening), the chain having agreed to maintain this niche agreed before the epidemic.
© 2020 AFP