Current Grantees

Projects in the United States

Anywhere 

Théâtre de l’Entrouvert – Elise Vigneron 

French-American co-production at Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Chicago, IL
June 2022 – February 2023 

Transmission of ANYWHERE – a show for puppets made of ice and animated materials whose innovative and visual character has helped Théâtre de l’Entrouvert achieve great visibility – to an American team, a commission from Blair Thomas, Director of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival to Elise Vigneron, Creative Director of Théâtre de l’Entrouvert. 

The sets and materials for the puppets will be rebuilt in France by the Théâtre de l’Entrouvert team during summer 2022 followed by rehearsals with the new cast and Elise Vigneron during fall and in January 2023 before the new version premieres at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.  

C’est pas là, C’est par là
Compagnie Galmae – Juhyung Lee 

Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT 
September 2022

C’est pas là, C’est par là is an installation and participatory performance that serves as a collective meditation on community and individuality. The City of Burlington will be celebrating the 35th anniversary of ArtHop, an annual celebration of arts, in September. The Flynn seeks to contribute Galmae’s project to the celebration as a show of the Flynn’s role as a convener of arts in the community. The presentation of C’est pas là, C’est par là at the Flynn Theater is part of large tour in the New England region 

Fraternité, conte fantastique
Caroline Guiela Nguyen – Compagnie les Hommes approximatifs 

New York, NY 
September 2022 

Fraternité, conte fantastique reveals the poetic and fantastic strength of realities and the possibilities of the future through tragic destinies turned into a tale.  

Two performances of the 3-hour work as well as complementary educational events are planned. 

_jeanne_dark_
Marion Siéfert 

French Institute: Alliance Française (FIAF), New York, NY
September 2022 

With _jeanne_dark_, writer and director Marion Siéfert and choreographer and actor Helena de Laurens offer a contemporary take on the character of Joan of Arc and an exposé on the pressures faced by the modern, teen girl to two, simultaneous audiences: those in the theater and those on Instagram Live.

Two productions written by Felwine Sarr:

Traces
Liberté, j’aurai habité ton rêve jusqu’au soir   

FIAF, New York, NY / DUKE University, Durham, NC / Georgia State University-Rialto Theater, Atlanta, GA 
September 2022 

Traces performed by Etienne Minougou and Simon Winse, directed by Aristide Tarnagda, calls on the African continent to explore its past in order to rediscover its self-esteem and bring forth a new utopia. The production will be presented at DUKE University, Durham, NC, at the Georgia State U.-Rialto Theater, Atlanta, GA, and at FIAF, New York.  

Liberté, directed Dorcy Rugamba, with Felwine Sarr, the actress Marie-Laure Crochant, T.I.E et Majnun, uses soundbites from Frantz Fanon and René Char and invites the audience to join in vivisecting “the inhabitable world”.  

Angela Davis, a History of the United States 
Compagnie l’Heliotrope 

Princeton U., Seuls en scène Festival, Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts 
July 2022 – October 2022

Angela Davis written by Faustine Noguès, directed by Paul Desveaux, and interpreted by French actress Astrid Bahiya is a political, poetic and musical journey about the life of this extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to the fight for all those discriminated against. Astrid Bahiya will perform either in English or in French.  The tour includes two performances at Princeton University – one in English, one in French, and 5 performances in English at MIFA.  

Autophagies
Compagnie La Part du pauvre – Eva Doumbia 

Ashé Cultural Art Center, New Orleans, LA
Invisible Dog Art Center, New York, NY 
March 2023 

Autophagies is an immersive theater spectacle, combining elements of dance, text, video, music, and cooking on stage, which ventures to a place somewhere between Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Following its premiere at the Festival d’Avignon in July 2021, Autophagies will make its English-language debut in New Orleans, LA in spring 2023, followed by a tour to New York City. Due to the nature of the venues presenting the performance, the show will be modified for each space to reduce technical demands. 

Shadows Cast (Ombres Portées)
Raphaëlle Boitel – Compagnie L’Oubliée 

Peak Performances-MSU, NJ / Emerson Art, Boston, MA / William Centre for the Arts, PA
March – April 2023 

Created in November 2021 Shadows Cast will tour the United States in 2023, at the Peak Performances series – Montclair State University, NJ, then at Emerson Arts, Boston, MA and one performance tour at Lafayette College – Williams center for the arts in Easton, PA.   Shadows Cast is like a Russian doll, a Kafkian poem about one’s quest for identity, where one’s sense of self comes from, destinies that suddenly change their course and the fragility of our sense of balance. 

The Cultural Diaspora #2 

The Camargo Foundation 
November 2022 – August 2023 

The Cultural Diaspora, now in its second incarnation, brings together text-based theater artists from opposite ends of the Africanist Diaspora to share work, ideas and strategies for surviving as Black artists.  The 1st phase of the program sees the 10 artists come together at Camargo in Cassis to develop their ideas, exchanges and work during a 5-week residency in Spring 2022. In the 2nd element of the program, supported by FACE Foundation, the artists will present the results of their exchanges and new works at venues in the United States, including the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. 

Projects in France

WELFARE
Julie Deliquet – Frederick Wiseman 

Théâtre Gérard Philipe
October 2022 – Summer 2023 

In collaboration with American filmmaker and director Frederick Wiseman, French theater director Julie Deliquet, head of Théâtre Gérard Philipe, will adapt the theatrical version of Welfare, Wiseman’s ninth film.    

Welfare depicts a particular day in December 1973, a day under the snow, from the opening to the closing time of a social assistance center hosted in a school sports hall for the holiday. 

Contact

Nicole Birmann Bloom
Program Officer, Performing Arts
nicole.birmann-bloom@frenchculture.org