No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
The Théâtre du Soleil, Part Two: the Road to Cambodia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 January 2009
Extract
One theatre company alone in France, since the end of Vilar's Théâtre National Populaire, continues to make us consider the relationships between theatre and life, the place of theatre in society, its ability to modify the order of things in some way. It is the Théâtre du Soleil, guided by Ariane Mnouchkine.
THE SEARCH for a contemporary popular theatre which has occupied the Théâtre du Soleil almost since its foundation 22 years ago has led the company at various times into innovations in both subject matter and performance style. Their latest production, The Terrible but Unfinished History of Norodom Sihanouk, King of Combodia, breaks new ground in both areas.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986
References
Notes and References
1. Simon, Alfred, Les Signes et les songes: essai sur le théâtre et la fête (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1976), p. 57Google Scholar.
2. Mnouchkine, Ariane, quoted in ‘Un Récit de notre temps’, La Tribune le Progrés, 19 juillet 1984Google Scholar.
3. Ariane Mnouchkine, quoted in Tremblay, Anne, ‘A French Director Gives Shakespeare a New Look’, New York Times, 10 06 1984, p. 14Google Scholar.
4. These small light-bulbs, evocative of many forms of entertainment from the decoration on fairground equipment to the signs outside Broadway and West End theatres, have been a recurring feature at the Théâtre du Soleil since Les Clowns, the set for which consisted of huge mirrored panels framed with similar tiny bulbs. They were also used as a major feature of the design for L'Age d'or, where they covered the ceiling even more spectacularly than in Sihanouk.
5. Ariane Mnouchkine, quoted by Althaus, Jean-Pierre, in Voyage dans le théâtre (Lausanne: Editions Pierre-Marcel Favre, 1984), p. 167Google Scholar.
6. Quoted by Deprats, Jean-Michel in ‘Le Besoin d'une forme’, Théâtre/Public, 46–47 (juillet–octobre 1982), p. 10Google Scholar.
7. Hottier, Philippe, ‘Un Texte masqué’, Théâtre/Public, 46–47 (juillet–octobre 1982), p. 13Google Scholar.
8. Degan, Catherine, ‘L'Acteur est un scaphandrier de l'âme’. Le Soir, 20, 21, 22 juillet 1984Google Scholar.
9. Ariane Mnouchkine, quoted in Degan, Catherine, ‘L'Acteur est un scaphandrier de l'âme’, Le Soir, 20, 21, 22 juillet 1984Google Scholar.
10. See, for example, an interview with Hottier, Philippe in Libération, 12 juillet 1984, p. 28–9Google Scholar.
11. Roy, Claude, ‘Ariane Soleil’, in Double Page, 21 (Paris: Editions SNEP, 1982), p. 5Google Scholar.
12. It is said that when Jack Lang was appointed Minister of Culture under the Socialist government, one of his first actions was to telephone Ariane Mnouchkine to propose doubling the state subsidy to the company. They currently receive an annual grant of five million francs. This makes them one of the most highly subsidized private companies, along with Peter Brook's company (which received a base grant in 1985 of four and a half million francs, but with a special extra grant for The Mahabharata) and the Compagnie Renaud-Barrault (which received seven million francs). This naturally leaves them well behind the major national companies, with thirty-five million francs going to the Odéon (including their Théâtre en Europe season), forty-six million for the Théâtre National de Chaillot, and over ninety million for the Comédie Française. These figures were supplied by the Ministère de la Culture. It should be noted that because of the different operations of the theatres, crude comparisons can be misleading.
13. Mnouchkine, Ariane, quoted in Le Monde, 20 février 1975, p. 17Google Scholar.
14. Quoted in ‘1789 par le Théâtre du Soleil à Besançon’, Le Bien Public (Dijon), 6 février 1971.
15. Ariane Mnouchkine, interviewed by Costaz, Gilles, in Le Matin, 12 septembre 1985, p. 23–4Google Scholar.