Paris (AFP)
The Théâtre du Châtelet, one of the most prestigious in Paris, announced on Friday the departure of its British artistic director Ruth Mackenzie, following an audit having pointed out "managerial and financial problems", according to a source familiar with the matter.
"There was a managerial problem with the staff and a financial (problem) linked to an insufficient artistic season. There was an audit carried out by an independent firm which led to his departure", this source explained to AFP on condition of anonymity.
The affair "smoldered for a long time" and it is "the board of directors which asked Mrs. Mackenzie to leave", specified this same source.
General manager Thomas Lauriot said Prévost will remain in his post, Châtelet said.
Ruth Mackenzie, former artistic director of the Holland Festival in the Netherlands, took over from Jean-Luc Chopelin in 2017. She has also directed the London 2012 Cultural Olympics, the Manchester International Festival (2006-2007) and the Scottish Opera ( 1997-1999).
She has also advised the most renowned cultural institutions, such as Tate Modern (the great museum of modern and contemporary art in London) in 2013.
After her appointment, she had to wait until 2019 to announce her first season, after 28 months of renovation work on the Châtelet, a historic theater.
His brief tenure was marked by controversy, most notably the immersive DAU project in early 2019, an artistic experiment that aimed to take audiences on a 30-year (1938-1968) "journey" to the Soviet Union through films, reconstitution of sets, concerts, conferences and performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Théâtre de la Ville.
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