K Samka

Bruno Abraham-Kremer Théâtre de l’Invisible
Ever eager for human and artistic encounters, Bruno Abraham-Kremer is an actor, a director and an author. In 1989 he founded the Theatre of the Invisible of which he assumes the artistic direction.

In movies, he worked with so many different directors as Claude Chabrol, Danièle Thompson, Kim Chapiron, Anne Fontaine, Yann Moix, Bertrand Blier, Luc Moullet, Radu Mihaileanu, Tom Bazucha, Zabou Breitman, Marco Carmel, Georges Wilson, Pierre Granier-Deferre, Michèle Rosier, Laurent Bouhnik, Serge Frydman… and on TV with Alain Tasma, Laurent Heyneman, Claude Goretta, Marc Angelo, Sébastien Graal, Christian de Chalonges, Alain Vermuz, Marcel Camus, Claude Faraldo…

On stage he was an actor of Joël Jouanneau, of Jean-Luc Revol as well, of Christian Schiaretti, Didier Long, Claude Merlin, Christophe Lidon, Bernard Bloch, Gilles Bouillon, François Kergoulay, Robert Cantarella, J.G. Nordmann, C. Zambon, Henri Bornstein, Philippe Ogouz and Corine Juresco. He also used to play in his own productions for the “Théâtre de l’Invisible”.

He was really revealed by the success of the “Trilogie de l’Invisible”: the Golem, that he had written, as well as Milarepa and Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran/Mr Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran, written for him by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, a play he was playing in successfully during two seasons in Paris, first at the Studio des Champs-Elysées, then at the Théâtre Marigny, as well as all around Europe and in twelve African countries (nearly 600 performances).

He created “L’Amérique” at the Studio des Champs-Elysées, a play also written for him by Serge Kribus and which earned him the Molière-Grand Prix du Théâtre/Theatre Great Prize in 2006. In 2007 he was in Rutabaga Swing, nominated for the Molière as Best Show of the Public Theatre. In 2009 he created La Vie sinon rien/Life or else nothing, first wing of his new triptych: La Trilogie d’un Homme Ordinaire/ The Trilogy of an Ordinary Man at Les Gemeaux/Seaux/Scène Nationale, played again at La Comédie des Champs-Elysées and at Le Lucernaire in 2010. In 2010 he also played at the Théâtre Montparnasse the part of Freud in Parole et Guérison/The Talking Cure written by Christophe Hampton and directed by Didier Long, by the side of Barbara Schultz and Samuel Le Bihan. In 2012 he created for the Festival of Grignan La Vie est une Géniale Improvisation/Life is a Fantastic Improvisation, a play adapted from Vladimir Yankelevitch’s correspondence, that ran at the Théâtre des Mathurins until April 2014.

As for La Promesse de l’Aube/The Promise of Dawn by Romain Gary created in 2011 at the Théâtre de la Commune/CDN d’Aubervilliers, he was actor, adapter and co-director, with Corine Juresco. Then the show ran for two seasons in Paris, at Le Petit Saint Martin in 2012 and at the Théâtre des Mathurins in 2013. After two tours in France it went to Lithuania, Russia and Lebanon.

In 2014, at Le Petit Saint Martin, he was Anton Chekhov in J’ai Terriblement Envie de Vivre/I Terribly Want to Live written and directed with Corine Jurasco. The show ran for one month in Geneva at the Théâtre des Amis, and then in tour. In 2017 he was in King Lear, directed by Jean-Luc Revol, by the side of Michel Aumont, at the Théâtre de la Madeleine and on tour. The same year he was also in Alain Tasma’s film Huit Jours en Hiver/Height Days in Winter, on Arte. Last season he staged again Life is a Fantastic Improvisation at the Lucernaire and went again on tour with I Terribly Want to Live. This season he plays in L’Angoisse du Roi Salomon/King Solomon’s Anguish by Romain Gary/Emile Ajar, adapted and directed with Corine Juresco, at the Théâtre du Petit Saint Martin.

Les Baladins du Miroir
The story behind Les Baladins du Miroir is closely intertwined with that of Nele Paxinou, whose theatrical career started in the Rideau de Bruxelles company when she was twenty years old. By a twist of fate, Nele was forced to give up her acting career.
She then studied alongside Armand Delcampe, at the Centre d’Études Théâtrales of Louvain-la-Neuve, before returning to the Rideau de Bruxelles as a Stage Director. She soon realized that there was a gap between the theater of her dreams and the one she had been practicing until then. She now wanted to create a united company which would be fully committed to the theatrical life.

The Théâtre du Miroir was born out of an encounter and of the will to recreate The Sun Sets written by the beloved Ghelderode, while stepping out of the traditional theatrical setting. The show is therefore organized in a disused church: the Les Brigittines Chapel in Brussels, near the Sablon. And this is how our journey started; a very long journey!

Why the choice of the word “miroir” (mirror)? “Not to go to the theater is like making one’s toilet without a mirror.” Arthur Schopenhauer used to say. What is theater but the mirror of life? The small door that leads to the mysteries of the soul? According to Lacan, disciple of Freud, the mirror stage induces the creation of one’s personality.
The Stage Director Jean-Claude Idée presents the Théâtre du Miroir with a project: a traveling show that would perform for the neighborhoods of Brussels on a carriage. It is called “Kwiebe Kwiebus” and is an adaptation of Journey around My Flanders by Michel de Ghelderode, for whom Nele has an inextinguishable passion!
That’s how the decisive encounter that will later give rise to Les Baladins du Miroir takes place! Marco Taillebuis, who has worked with a Brazilian theater company, and Benoit Postic, who mainly practices mime, are hired at once! The actor Denis Lavant also joins in.
Everything clicks into place; the vocation is born: bring great authors to the stage to reunite them with the largest possible audience, comprised of warm and demanding individuals who are ready to be seduced and captivated, and free to leave the circle of spectators without leaving a penny if the show bores them!

As early as winter 1980, the Théâtre du Miroir acquires its first trailer. The company plays for the first time under a rented big top during a tour of the municipalities of Brussels; the very warm reception from the public and the press gives birth to a new project.
At the beginning of the year, the company prepares Voltaire’s Zadig. In the summer, the show, presented during a 3-month tour in the south of France, is praised by the press: “A company that goes down in the streets and reaches out to its audience, which serves as its mirror, with no big top, on a moving stage, and all that, for free.” (Midi Libre)
At the time, the convoy counts three trailers and three trucks.
A year later, le Théâtre du Miroir splits up due to disagreements between members of the group. Les Baladins du Miroir were born out of this separation, under the leadership of Nele, Marco Taillebuis and Benoit Postic.
Les Baladins play Zadig successfully in Belgium and in France in 1982 and recreate La Fontaine’s Fables the following year.

Didier Bezace - L'Entêtement Amoureux(The Amorous Obstinacy)
A co-founder of the Théâtre de l’Aquarium – Cartoucherie in Paris, Didier Bezace participated in all the shows that the company produced as an author, an actor or a director from its creation in 1970 until 1997. He directed the Théâtre de la Commune (Paris) during 16 years while continuing as an actor in the cinema and theatre.


After leaving the Théâtre de la Commune in January 2014, he created his own theatre company L’Entêtement Amoureux (The Amorous Obstinacy).

The Amorous Obstinacy without which, according to him, nothing can emerge from the confrontation of such different, and sometimes antagonistic, implements as a book of which we turn the pages and the unitary space of the stage where fiction is incarnated. The stage is the workbench where every day, obsessively, one comes to assemble in various arrangements the disparate elements of a dream to be realised. Time and determination, reflection and love for the materials end up giving sense and meaning to this daily contortion and a form emerges which is crafted by complementary and skilled professionnals in the fields of sound, lighting, stage setting, acting. A show is coming to life, its author being that ponderous and stubborn mechanic, the director. If the support of the public comes to confer legitimacy to its fragile arrangement, it can be said that theatre exists, can be shared and perhaps even be talented.

"Many years later, after having staged many plays, I haven’t changed my mind. Every new project – be it based on a classical or a contemporary text, be it destined from the beginning to be staged or not – makes me feel inexperienced, tormented and anxious. I need to gather anew the forces of desire – for myself as well as my collaborators – to dive into the unknown and stumble along the laborious path of creation. The only experience I have gained during all those years of directing is that deep down within uncertainty, there is a certainty. There is a solution, it is hidden, and you have to find a way and means to discover it."

Didier Bezace produced numerous shows among which Le Piège by Emmanuel Bove, Les Heures Blanches based on La Maladie Humaine (La malattia chiamata uomo) by Ferdinando Camon, La Noce chez les petits bourgeois (A Respectable Wedding ) followed by Grand’peur et misère du IIIe Reich (Fear and Misery of the Third Reich) by Bertolt Brecht (for which he was awarded the best director review prize in 1995), La Femme changée en renard (Lady changed into a Fox) by David Garnett (Best Newcomer French Molière Award), Pereira prétend (Sostiene Pereira) by Antonio Tabucchi which was created at the Avignon Festival in 1997.
In 2001, he produced L’École des Femmes (The School of Wives) by Molière at the Court of Honor of the Popes' Palace at the Avignon Festival.
In 2005, he was given the French Molière Award (Best Adaptation of a Foreign Play and Best Director) for La Version de Browning (The Browning Version) by Terence Rattigan.
He also staged Chère Elena Sergueïevna by Ludmilla Razoumovskaïa, La Maman Bohême followed by Médée (Medea) by Dario Fo and Franca Rame, May based on a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, Conversations avec ma mère (Conversations with my Mother) based on a screenplay by Santiago Carlos Ovés in which he also acted alongside Isabelle Sadoyan, several Pièces courtes by Daniel Keene, Elle est là (It is There) by Nathalie Sarraute in which he co-starred with Pierre Arditi and Évelyne Bouix, Aden Arabie by Paul Nizan, Les Fausses Confidences by Marivaux, Que la noce commence based on Horatiu Malaele’s movie and La dernière neige by Hubert Mingarelli, a solo performance.
Didier Bezace was awarded the Theatre Prize of the SACD (French Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers) in 2011.

In 2014, he produced Marguerite Duras, Les Trois Ages, a triptych made of Marguerite et le président, Le Square and Savannah Bay at the Théâtre de l’Atelier (Paris).
Emmanuelle Riva was awarded the Beaumarchais Prize (Best Actress) for her part in Savannah Bay.
On stage, he performed numerous contemporary and classical texts for several directors among which Les Fausses Confidences by Marivaux where he played Dubois alongside Nathalie Baye or more recently Après la répétition by Bergman directed by Laurent Laffargue with Fanny Cottençon and Céline Sallette.
As a movie actor, he worked with Claude Miller in La petite voleuse; Jean-Louis Benoit in Dédé; Marion Hansel in Sur la terre comme au ciel; Serge Leroy in Taxi de nuit; Pascale Ferran in Petits arrangements avec les morts; Claude Zidi in Profil bas; André Téchiné in Les Voleurs; Bigas Luna in La Femme de chambre du Titanic; Pascal Thomas in La Dilettante; Marcel Bluwal in Le plus beau pays du monde; Serge Meynard in Voyous, voyelles; Jeanne Labrune in Ça ira mieux demain, C’est le bouquet and Cause toujours; Rodolphe Marconi in Ceci est mon corps; Anne Théron in Ce qu’ils imaginent; Daniel Colas in Nuit noire; Valérie Guignabodet in Mariages !; Rémi Bezançon in Ma vie en l’air; Olivier Doran in Le Coach; Pierre Schoeller in L'Exercice de l'État; Justine Malle in Cette année- là... ; Delphine De Vigan in A coup sûr; Bertrand Tavernier in L627, Ça commence aujourd’hui and Quai d’Orsay.
As a TV actor, he worked with many different directors such as Caroline Huppert, Denys Granier-Deferre, François Luciani, Marcel Bluwal, Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, Daniel Jeanneau, Bertrand Arthuys, Alain Tasma, Jean-Pierre Sinapi, Laurent Herbiet, Pierre Boutron, Gérard Jourd’hui, Marc Rivière...

L’entêtement amoureux (The Amorous Obstinacy), Cie Didier Bezace is supported by the French Ministry of Culture.

Romane Bohringer / Lisa Schuster / Pierre Pradinas
Romane Bohringer played, in 1991, the part of Miranda in Shakespeare’s Tempest, directed by Peter Brook. She was 18 years old and it was quite a revelation, both for her and for the audience. The following year, she was the unforgettable actress of Cyril Collard, in his film Savage Nights and, that for, got the Cesar prize as “best young feminine hopeful”.
In films, she chooses exacting works, with very different directors, as Claude Miller (the Accompanist), Martine Dugowson (Portraits Chinois), Yves Angelo (Colonel Chabert), Agnieska Holland (Rimbaud Verlaine), Bigas Luna (the Chambermaid on the Titanic), Olivier Dahan (Tom Thumb), Chantal Richard (Lilli and the Baobab), Richard Bohringer (C’est Beau une Ville la Nuit/Blues), Maïwenn Le Besco (All about Actresses), Gilles Bourdos (Renoir) and Laurent Laffargue (the Mad Kings).
At the same time, she keeps acting on stage: Again she is in a Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, directed by Hans Peter Cloos, then in Lulu with the same director. She works also, very faithfully, with Irina Brook (the Glass Menagerie, the Good Person of Setchouan, and soon Lampedusa Beach), with Pierre Pradinas (Winter’s Tale, Fantomas Comes Back, The Hell, The Cupboard Friends, Let’s Kiss, Folleville) and Michel Didym (La Marche, and very recently J’avais un Beau Ballon Rouge).

Lisa Schuster, trained in the free class of the Cours Florent, starts her career at the Théâtre La Bruyère in 1994 in a Stephan Meldegg’s production.
She meets the following year, when working on Brecht, the director Didier Bezace, and it will be the beginning of a fascinating collaboration: First at the Théâtre de l’Aquarium, in La Cartoucherie, for Noce chez les Petits Bourgeois and Grand Peur et Misère du Troisième Reich, by Bertold Brecht, as well as Le Piège (the Trap), inspired by Emmanuel Bove, and then at the Théâtre de la Commune-Centre Dramatique National d’Aubervilliers, for Pereira Pretend (Pereira claims), from the novel by Antonio Tabucchi, Chére Eléna Serguéievna by Ludmilla Razoumovskaïa, May, from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, and more recently Que la Noce Commence (Let’s Start the Wedding) by Horatiu Malaele, all shows that will be played as well on tour, in France and abroad.
In 2000, she takes part in the crazy adventure of the famous Brèves de Comptoir (Bar-room Philosophising), second opus, conducted by Jean-Michel Ribes. She also works, on stage as well as in master-class, with Murielle Mayette of the Comédie Française, the English director Dan Jemmett, Olivier Marchal, Christophe Lidon, Laurent Gutmann and the teacher Pascal Papini.
In 2009 she adapts for the stage, and plays, Le Journal à Quatre Mains, by Flora and Benoîte Groult. The show, very warmly received by audience and critics, is nominated “Best Show” of Molière-s 2009 and gets then the prize of “Theatre revelation”. In 2012, alone on stage, she plays Eva Braun, la Banalité du Mal, a text by Christine Brükner produced by Jean-Paul Sermadiras, then it’s in the middle of 17 actors that she plays Que la Noce commence, under Didier Bezace’s direction.
During all summer 2015, at the Castle of Grignan, she plays Quand le Diable s’en Mêle (When the Devil Comes to it), 3 plays by Feydeau directed by Didier Bezace.

Pierre Pradinas
The company was had been named after a street in Avignon where a former dance room transformed into a theatre housed the creations of the collective and it obtained, from 1993 to 2002, an artistic residence at the Théâtre de la Piscine in Châtenay-Malabry. From 1985 to 1987 Pierre Pradinas directed the Centre Dramatique National de Picardie and was, from 2002 to 2014 at the head of the Théâtre de l’Union, Centre Dramatique National du Limousin. Since 2005 he produced, among other shows, Fantômas Revient (Fantômas is back) by Gabor Rassov, Le Médecin Volant and La jalousie du Barbouillé (The Flying Doctor and The Jealousy of Le Barbouillé) by Molière, L’Enfer (The Hell) by Gabor Rassov, Maldoror by Lautréamont, Le Mariage Forcé (The commanded Marriage) by Molière, 29 Degrés à l’Ombre and Embrassons-nous, Folleville by Eugène Labiche, Les Amis du Placard (The Cupboard Friends) by Gabor Rassov, Les Amis du Président by Alain Gautré, Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, as well as Des Biens et des Personnes by Marc Dugowson.

Passionate as he is by working with actors, Pierre Pradinas also loved transmission. In 1990 he was co-founder, with Niels Arestrup, of the Ecole du Passage. Since then he lead many workshops, including AFDAS workshops. From1995 to 1997 he taught drama at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre (ENSATT). At the same time as directing the Théâtre de l’Union, he headed, from 2008 to 2014, the Académie, Ecole Supérieure Professionnelle de Théâtre du Limousin.

Recent productions

• 2014 Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, with Romane Bohringer, Scali Delpeyrat, Matthieu Rozé, Thierry Gimenez, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan, Gabor Rassov and Vladimir Barbera.
• 2013 Scène de la Vie au XXème Sciècle (Out of the Life in the Twentieth Century) from Bertold Brecht, with Vladimir Barbera, Stéphane Bensimon, Guillaume Delalandre, Elisa Delorme, Timothée François, Léa Miguel, Nolwenn Peterschmitt, Elisa Ritter and Jean-Baptiste Tur.
• 2013 Mélodrame(s), by Gabor Rassov, with Rohmane Bohringer, Thierry Gimenez, Matthieu Rozé, Bruno Salomone and Warren Zavatta.
• 2013 Des Biens et des Personnes (About Goods and Persons), by Marc Dugowson, with Brigitte Catillon, Aurélien Chaussade, Thierry Gimenez, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan, Gabor Rassov, Matthieu Rozé and Thierry Payen.
• 2012 Ubu roi, by Alfred Jarry, with Hovnatan Avedikian, David Ayala, Jean-François Bourinet, Danik Hernandez, Gabor Rassov, Camille de Sablet and the actors of the Académie- Sequence 7.
• 2012 Les amis du placard, by Gabor Rassov, at the Pépinière Théâtre, with Didier Benureau, Romane Bohringer, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan and Matthieu Rozé. 2010 Les Amis du Président, by Alain Gautré, with Thierry Gimenez and Stéphan Wojtowicz.
• 2010 Les amis du Président, by Alain Gautré, with Thierry Gimenez and Stéphan Wojtowicz.
• 2010 29 Degrés à l’Ombre and Embrassons-nous, Folleville! (29 Degrees in the Shade and Let’s Kiss, Folleville!), by Labiche, withRohmane Bohringer, Gérard Chaillou, Thierry Gimenez, Gabor Rassov and Matthieu Rozé.
• 2008 Le Mariage Forcé (The Enforced Marriage), by Molière, at the Studio Théâtre de la Comédie Française, reprise of the creation at the same theatre in 2010 from March 27 to July 11.
• 2007 L’Enfer (The Hell), by Gabor Rassov, from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, with David Ayala, Ardag Basmadjian, Rohmane Bohringer, Thierry Gimenez, Stéphane Godefroy, Danik Hernandez, Nathalie Loriot, Joan Mompart, Gabor Rassov and the musician Jean-Fi Dary and Christophe Minck. The show was nominated at the Molières.
• 2007 Maldoror, from Les Chants de Maldoror by Lautréamont, with David Ayala (reprise at the Maison de la Poésie in 2010, from June 2 to 26).

Pierre Pradinas
The company was had been named after a street in Avignon where a former dance room transformed into a theatre housed the creations of the collective and it obtained, from 1993 to 2002, an artistic residence at the Théâtre de la Piscine in Châtenay-Malabry. From 1985 to 1987 Pierre Pradinas directed the Centre Dramatique National de Picardie and was, from 2002 to 2014 at the head of the Théâtre de l’Union, Centre Dramatique National du Limousin. Since 2005 he produced, among other shows, Fantômas Revient (Fantômas is back) by Gabor Rassov, Le Médecin Volant and La jalousie du Barbouillé (The Flying Doctor and The Jealousy of Le Barbouillé) by Molière, L’Enfer (The Hell) by Gabor Rassov, Maldoror by Lautréamont, Le Mariage Forcé (The commanded Marriage) by Molière, 29 Degrés à l’Ombre and Embrassons-nous, Folleville by Eugène Labiche, Les Amis du Placard (The Cupboard Friends) by Gabor Rassov, Les Amis du Président by Alain Gautré, Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, as well as Des Biens et des Personnes by Marc Dugowson.

Passionate as he is by working with actors, Pierre Pradinas also loved transmission. In 1990 he was co-founder, with Niels Arestrup, of the Ecole du Passage. Since then he lead many workshops, including AFDAS workshops. From1995 to 1997 he taught drama at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre (ENSATT). At the same time as directing the Théâtre de l’Union, he headed, from 2008 to 2014, the Académie, Ecole Supérieure Professionnelle de Théâtre du Limousin.

Recent productions

• 2014 Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, with Romane Bohringer, Scali Delpeyrat, Matthieu Rozé, Thierry Gimenez, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan, Gabor Rassov and Vladimir Barbera.
• 2013 Scène de la Vie au XXème Sciècle (Out of the Life in the Twentieth Century) from Bertold Brecht, with Vladimir Barbera, Stéphane Bensimon, Guillaume Delalandre, Elisa Delorme, Timothée François, Léa Miguel, Nolwenn Peterschmitt, Elisa Ritter and Jean-Baptiste Tur.
• 2013 Mélodrame(s), by Gabor Rassov, with Rohmane Bohringer, Thierry Gimenez, Matthieu Rozé, Bruno Salomone and Warren Zavatta.
• 2013 Des Biens et des Personnes (About Goods and Persons), by Marc Dugowson, with Brigitte Catillon, Aurélien Chaussade, Thierry Gimenez, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan, Gabor Rassov, Matthieu Rozé and Thierry Payen.
• 2012 Ubu roi, by Alfred Jarry, with Hovnatan Avedikian, David Ayala, Jean-François Bourinet, Danik Hernandez, Gabor Rassov, Camille de Sablet and the actors of the Académie- Sequence 7.
• 2012 Les amis du placard, by Gabor Rassov, at the Pépinière Théâtre, with Didier Benureau, Romane Bohringer, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan and Matthieu Rozé. 2010 Les Amis du Président, by Alain Gautré, with Thierry Gimenez and Stéphan Wojtowicz.
• 2010 Les amis du Président, by Alain Gautré, with Thierry Gimenez and Stéphan Wojtowicz.
• 2010 29 Degrés à l’Ombre and Embrassons-nous, Folleville! (29 Degrees in the Shade and Let’s Kiss, Folleville!), by Labiche, withRohmane Bohringer, Gérard Chaillou, Thierry Gimenez, Gabor Rassov and Matthieu Rozé.
• 2008 Le Mariage Forcé (The Enforced Marriage), by Molière, at the Studio Théâtre de la Comédie Française, reprise of the creation at the same theatre in 2010 from March 27 to July 11.
• 2007 L’Enfer (The Hell), by Gabor Rassov, from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, with David Ayala, Ardag Basmadjian, Rohmane Bohringer, Thierry Gimenez, Stéphane Godefroy, Danik Hernandez, Nathalie Loriot, Joan Mompart, Gabor Rassov and the musician Jean-Fi Dary and Christophe Minck. The show was nominated at the Molières.
• 2007 Maldoror, from Les Chants de Maldoror by Lautréamont, with David Ayala (reprise at the Maison de la Poésie in 2010, from June 2 to 26).

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Zabou Breitman - Cabotine
Actress and director, she creates in 2017, in Paris, her own company Cabotine (“ham actress”). Daughter of Jean-Claude Deret, author and actor, and Céline Leger, actress, Zabou Breitman is immersed in theatre since her childhood. At the age of four she‘s in the television serial Thierry La Fronde: her father had written the serial and created the character, her mother was playing the part of Isabelle. She studied movie, modern Greek and English.

In movies, she starts with Elle voit des Nains Partout!/She Sees Dwarves Everywhere! She’s also in La Baule-les Pins, Cuisine et Dépendances/Kitchen and Outbuildings, as well as in Ma Petite Entreprise/My Little Business, or The Crisis by Coline Serreau. In 2002 she plays in Un Monde Presque Paisible/An Almost Peaceful World by Michel Deville. Then comes Le Premier Jour du Reste de ta Vie/The First Day of the Rest of your Life. She’s the partner of Guillaume Canet in Narco (2004). Follow L’Exercice de l’Etat/The Minister by Pierre Schoeller, Discount by Louis-Julien Petit, C’est le Métier qui Rentre/It’s Just Learning the Hard Way by Diane Kurys and Je Compte sur Vous/Thank you for Calling by Pascal Elbé.

In 2001 she directs her first feature film Se Souvenir des Belles Choses/Beautiful Memories, a drama about memory that earns her three César Award including best first film. L’Homme de sa Vie/The Man of her Life, her second film, is on release in 2006, in 2009 Je l’aimais/I Used to Love Him, adapted from Anna Gavalda’s novel and in 2010 No et Moi/No and Me, from the novel by Delphine de Vigan. On stage she plays under the direction of Roger Planchon in Geoges Dandin by Molière (1987), of Jacques Weber in Tartuffe by Molière (1995), of Bernard Murat in Skylight by David Hare (1998), Daniel Benoin in La Jeune Fille et la Mort/Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman (1999), of Frédéric Bélier-Garcia in Hilda by Marie Ndiyaye (2002), of Yasmina Reza in Comment vous Raconter la Partie/How you Talk the Game at the Théâtre du Rond-Point (2014).

In 2002 she directed Roland Topor’s play L’Hiver sous la Table/Winter under the Table at the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Paris and the show won six Molière Awards: Best direction, best show, best actress (Isabelle Carré), best actor (Dominique Pinon), best set (Jacques Gabel) and best light (André Diot). In 2005 she creates Blanc by Emmanuelle Marie at the Théâtre de la Madeleine. In 2001 she got the Molière Award for Private Theatre and the Molière of adaptation for her directing Les Gens/People from Raymond Depardon. Then followed The Company of Ghosts by Lydie Salvayre at the Théâtre Monfort, in 2011 Le Système Ribadier at the Comédie Française/Théâtre du Vieux Colombier, L’Enlèvement au Sérail/Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart, conducted by Philippe Jordan, at the Opéra National de Paris and Le Journal de ma Nouvelle Oreille/Diary of my New Ear (adaptation and direction) by and with Isabelle Fruchart in Avignon and at the Théâtre du Rond-Point.

Jean-Quentin Châtelain
Born in 1959, Swiss actor Jean-Quentin Châtelain trained at the Cours d’Art Dramatique in Geneva and at the Théâtre National de Strasbourg before impassioning French speaking audiences when performing more than fifty shows.

The actor is of the stuff the stage legends are made of, but he reaches new heights in solo performances, mesmerizing and overwhelming his audiences.

His performances in Mars by Fritz Zorn, Kaddish pour l’enfant qui ne naîtra pas (Kaddish for an Unborn Child) by Imre Kertész, Ode maritime by Fernando Pessoa come notably to mind, or in a more humoristic vein in comedies such as J’ai passé ma vie à chercher l’ouvre-boîtes by Maurice-Domingue Barthélémy at the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris. Jean-Quentin Châtelain is one of the most fascinating actors of our time. He has worked for numerous theatre directors, namely Joël Jouanneau, Alain Françon or Claude Régy. More recently, he played under the direction of Bérangère Bonvoisin in Gros-Câlin by Romain Gary (Émile Ajar) at the Théâtre de l’Œuvre in Paris.

La compagnie des orfèvres – Ulysse Di Gregorio
After completing his training as an actorat Eva Saint-Paul’sschool and learning about stage direction among other things, hedecides to dedicate himself to staging. His first play as a directoris Roberto Zuccoby Bernard-Marie Koltés. Followingthat, he stages Voix du sang and Une Sorte d’Alsakaby Harold Pinter. With Claudel’s plays – L’Echange et la Cantate à trois voix – he develops a meticulous approach of the speech and pays particular attention for it being accurately transposed on stage by the comedians. While commiting himself to a lyrical prose performed by the characters, he is also drawn by Sarah Kane’smore contemporary and "psychological" literature with 4.48 Psychose. In 2016, he stages Polyeucte by Corneille at the Théâtre de l’Essaïon (Paris), a play that will be performed at the Théâtre de l’Epée de Bois (Paris) in June 2017. His work is characterised by a constant scrupulousness to reproducing faithfully the original work and unclutteredaes the tics, in order to leave room for imagination. More over, in a world overwhelmed by ever more rapidflowing images, his plays promote the concepts of silence and space, returning to the spectactors the time they have been stolen, a time necessary to appreciate the work in a sensitive way. In parallel, he moves on to film-makingand produces his first short film Continuumanda film adaptation of Une Sorte d’Alaska. He is currently collaborating with the comedian Jean-Quentin Châtelain on Une Saison en Enfer (A Season in Hell) by Rimbaud which will premiere in spring 2017 at the Théâtre du Lucernaire (Paris). Besides, he will stage the opera Orphée et Eurydiceby Gluck at the TOPF Silvia Monfort Theater of Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt (France) in April 2017.

Franck Lepage
Franck Lepage is one of the founders of the empowerment education (or Popular education: a term used to classify a wide array of educational endeavors which are either composed of or carried out in the interests of the working classes) co-operative called Le Pavé.

He has been a zealous actor in the field of empowerment education and was the program manager at the French federation of the community arts centres and youth clubs (Fédération française des Maisons des jeunes et de la culture) and a research fellow at the national institute of youth and empowerment education (Institut national de la jeunesse et de l'éducation populaire) until 2000.
Recalling the memory of Christiane Faure, he moved in a critical way on the role played by culture in our society in Inculture(s) 1 - L'éducation populaire, monsieur, ils n'en ont pas voulu..., a show combining theatre play with lecture, which was performed over 400 times between 2006 and 2014.
In 2010, Franck Lepage created a similar "gesticulated lecture" dealing with the role of education, Inculture(s) 2, a mix of a lecture and a one-man-show, then Inculture(s) 5 with Gaël Tanguy, a show about the welfare system based on the theoretical works of Bernard Friot.
Within a network of four empowerment education co-operatives called "la Grenaille" (composed of "Le Pavé" in Rennes, "L'orage" in Grenoble, "Le vent debout" in Toulouse and "l'engrenage" in Tours), he participated in training programs organised by these co-operatives and assisted in the production of more than a hundred lecture/performances in 2014.
After the dissolution of the co-operative Le Pavé in December 2014, he co-founded with a group of radical lecturers and performers a new organisation of political empowerment education. The organisation called "L'Ardeur" is created in 2015, and concentrated on actions with trade unions, the organisation of training programs for the production of lecture/performances and the editing of political action tools.

Biography
Having studied one year at the political studies institution of the university Paris 5, and falled to pass his first year examination, he read Eastern languages and law and turned towards educational methods.
In 1974, he taught pupils experiencing scolarity difficulties at school and discovered social work and community centers in 1975. In 1977, he entered the department of Community Organizing and educational sciences (Départements Animation socioculturelle et Sciences de l'éducation) at the experimental university center of Vincennes (Centre universitaire expérimental de Vincennes) — also known as the Free and Open university of Vincennes-Paris 8 (Faculté libre et ouverte de Vincennes -Paris 8).
Community Organizing was presented as a method to "challenge all the institutions of capitalism". He turned away from Community Organizing and turned to theatre in 1980, starting theatre studies at the university Paris 8 (Vincennes and Saint-Denis). He created his company in 1985. In 1987, he joined the French federation of the community arts centres and youth clubs (Fédération française des Maisons des jeunes et de la culture), where he heard about empowerment education for the first time, but no one at that time was able to give him a satisfactory meaning of the concept.
In his attempt to approach the French Ministry of Culture with the significance of community arts centers and youth clubs, he investigated the violence of the symbolic cultural/socio-cultural division in France. With several others, he set about theorizing the concept of empowerment education as "the role of culture in the process of social and political transformation" and led research programs at the French federation of the community arts centers and youth clubs. Taking advantage of a study for the French Ministry of Youth and Sports, he met the founders of the department for empowerment education in 1994. He led a governmental study program on empowerment education, and was the co-writer of a ministerial report trying to convince the Minister Marie-George Buffet to start in 2000 a political action worthy of the name. He left the French federation of the community arts centres and youth clubs and produced a show on empowerment education, Inculture(s).
Since 2003, he's co-leader of a "civil study program on empowerment education".
In 2007, he created with 5 other people the co-operative of empowerment education and social transformation, Le Pavé.
In 2012, he described himself as a political activist: "I am a political activist, not an artist. [...]
To be an artist means a social status. The system refuses to consider me as an activist. On Wikipedia, I am described as "a French humorist". The arts and the culture destroy politics."
In April 2012, he left the co-operative Le Pavé to dedicate himself to the production of lectures/performances within the name of "La Grenaille", a network of empowerment education co-operatives.

Publications
• Rapport sur l'éducation populaire ou le travail de la culture dans la transformation sociale et politique2, 2000, rapport ministériel pour Marie-George Buffet (alors ministre de la Jeunesse et des Sports).
• "De l’éducation populaire à la domestication par la "culture", Le Monde diplomatique, mai 2009.
• Éducation populaire, une utopie d'avenir, éd. Les Liens qui libèrent, 2012.

Bibliographie
• 2007 : Incultures - Tome 1, L'éducation populaire, Monsieur, ils n'en ont pas voulu... ou Une autre histoire de la culture, Cerisier (ISBN 978-2-87267-109-0)
• Participation au Livre noir de l'animation socioculturelle, Éditions L'Harmattan, 2005
• Participation à l'ouvrage collectif Altergouvernement, paru aux éditions Le Muscadier, 2012 : Franck Lepage s'y incarne comme le ministre de la Culture de l'Altergouvernement, un gouvernement fictif composé de 18 citoyens, non politiciens de métier, tous reconnus pour leur engagement dans leur domaine.

Références
• a et b [PDF] Rapport sur l'éducation populaire ou le travail de la culture dans la transformation sociale et politique [archive]
• (fr) texte et vidéo du spectacle "L’Education Populaire, monsieur, ils n’en ont pas voulu !" [archive]
• France Culture, émission du 24 décembre 2014. [archive]
• Franck Lepage. Coluche bourdieusien [archive] portrait dans Libération, 8 juin 2014.]
• Grégoire Souchay Scop Le Pavé : l’éducation populaire dans ta face [archive] Article11, 18 mars 2011.
• Voir sur sudouest.fr. [archive]
• Page de présentation de l'équipe de la SCOP Le Pavé. [archive]
• Article sur l'éducation populaire dans Le Monde diplomatique mai 2009 [archive].
• Franceinter.fr [archive], consulté le 5 février 2013.
• Voir sur muscadier.fr. Interview juin 2009
• Radio Là-bas si j'y suis - Daniel Mermet - France Inter 2010 "Pour une éducation populaire"
• Radio Là bas si j'y suis - Daniel Mermet - France Inter 2012 " Le printemps Français"
• Radio Là-bas si j'y suis - Daniel Mermet - France Inter 2013. "Trois réacs à la FIAC" "trois réacs à la FIAC"
• Interview en vidéo, janvier 2011 par l'université populaire de Roubaix (Accès payant) Longue vidéo sur le personnage et son travail par Arrêt sur images, 2012
• Article de Sud Ouest sur les conférences gesticulées et Franck Lepage, 2012
• Intervention sur l'école à "Ce soir ou jamais", Frédéric Taddei, France 2

Pierre Pradinas
He created the Companie du Chapeau Rouge (Red Hat Company) in 1978, in Avignon, with a group of actors among whom were Catherine Frot, Yann Colette, Thiérry Gimenez, Alain Gautré and Jean-Pierre Darroussin, and he used to choose, organize and direct the plays produced by the Red Hat.

The company was had been named after a street in Avignon where a former dance room transformed into a theatre housed the creations of the collective and it obtained, from 1993 to 2002, an artistic residence at the Théâtre de la Piscine in Châtenay-Malabry. From 1985 to 1987 Pierre Pradinas directed the Centre Dramatique National de Picardie and was, from 2002 to 2014 at the head of the Théâtre de l’Union, Centre Dramatique National du Limousin. Since 2005 he produced, among other shows, Fantômas Revient (Fantômas is back) by Gabor Rassov, Le Médecin Volant and La jalousie du Barbouillé (The Flying Doctor and The Jealousy of Le Barbouillé) by Molière, L’Enfer (The Hell) by Gabor Rassov, Maldoror by Lautréamont, Le Mariage Forcé (The commanded Marriage) by Molière, 29 Degrés à l’Ombre and Embrassons-nous, Folleville by Eugène Labiche, Les Amis du Placard (The Cupboard Friends) by Gabor Rassov, Les Amis du Président by Alain Gautré, Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, as well as Des Biens et des Personnes by Marc Dugowson.

Passionate as he is by working with actors, Pierre Pradinas also loved transmission. In 1990 he was co-founder, with Niels Arestrup, of the Ecole du Passage. Since then he lead many workshops, including AFDAS workshops. From1995 to 1997 he taught drama at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre (ENSATT). At the same time as directing the Théâtre de l’Union, he headed, from 2008 to 2014, the Académie, Ecole Supérieure Professionnelle de Théâtre du Limousin.

Recent productions

• 2014 Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, with Romane Bohringer, Scali Delpeyrat, Matthieu Rozé, Thierry Gimenez, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan, Gabor Rassov and Vladimir Barbera.
• 2013 Scène de la Vie au XXème Sciècle (Out of the Life in the Twentieth Century) from Bertold Brecht, with Vladimir Barbera, Stéphane Bensimon, Guillaume Delalandre, Elisa Delorme, Timothée François, Léa Miguel, Nolwenn Peterschmitt, Elisa Ritter and Jean-Baptiste Tur.
• 2013 Mélodrame(s), by Gabor Rassov, with Rohmane Bohringer, Thierry Gimenez, Matthieu Rozé, Bruno Salomone and Warren Zavatta.
• 2013 Des Biens et des Personnes (About Goods and Persons), by Marc Dugowson, with Brigitte Catillon, Aurélien Chaussade, Thierry Gimenez, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan, Gabor Rassov, Matthieu Rozé and Thierry Payen.
• 2012 Ubu roi, by Alfred Jarry, with Hovnatan Avedikian, David Ayala, Jean-François Bourinet, Danik Hernandez, Gabor Rassov, Camille de Sablet and the actors of the Académie- Sequence 7.
• 2012 Les amis du placard, by Gabor Rassov, at the Pépinière Théâtre, with Didier Benureau, Romane Bohringer, Aliénor Marcadé-Séchan and Matthieu Rozé. 2010 Les Amis du Président, by Alain Gautré, with Thierry Gimenez and Stéphan Wojtowicz.
• 2010 Les amis du Président, by Alain Gautré, with Thierry Gimenez and Stéphan Wojtowicz.
• 2010 29 Degrés à l’Ombre and Embrassons-nous, Folleville! (29 Degrees in the Shade and Let’s Kiss, Folleville!), by Labiche, withRohmane Bohringer, Gérard Chaillou, Thierry Gimenez, Gabor Rassov and Matthieu Rozé.
• 2008 Le Mariage Forcé (The Enforced Marriage), by Molière, at the Studio Théâtre de la Comédie Française, reprise of the creation at the same theatre in 2010 from March 27 to July 11.
• 2007 L’Enfer (The Hell), by Gabor Rassov, from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, with David Ayala, Ardag Basmadjian, Rohmane Bohringer, Thierry Gimenez, Stéphane Godefroy, Danik Hernandez, Nathalie Loriot, Joan Mompart, Gabor Rassov and the musician Jean-Fi Dary and Christophe Minck. The show was nominated at the Molières.
• 2007 Maldoror, from Les Chants de Maldoror by Lautréamont, with David Ayala (reprise at the Maison de la Poésie in 2010, from June 2 to 26).

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Ilka Schönbein - Theater Meschugge
Born in Darmstadt, Ilka learned the eurythmic dance of Rudolph Steiner, who used to advocate the union of soul and movement rather than effort and technique. Then she studied in Stuttgart with puppeteer Albrecht Roser. Once she completed her education, she joined companies on tour for around 10 years and eventually created her own company and took to the road with her own shows.

Metamorphoses was conceived as a street show, aimed at all kinds of audiences. Then, without renouncing the street, Ilka agreed to adapt her initial show for stage. She added a second character, first played by her German technician Thomas Berg, then by a French actor, Alexandre Haslé, and finally by Mô Bunte, a German puppeteer.
Each time Ilka created a new version, and with her last partner, she even did two. Masks and costumes change, certain scenes and characters vanish, others appear instead. There were successively five versions of Metamorphoses, later: Metamorphoses of Metamorphoses, all of them moving from caustic humour, so typical of Central Europe, to an intensely black vision of the world, emphasizing alternatively puppet play, mime and dance, resulting in a general balance of all means of expression. As long as she puts on a play, Ilka never considers it to be perfect: She is part of them and they are part of her.

King Frog was for her an opportunity to come back to young audience. The show was created in may 1998, co-produced by the Théâtre d’Ivry- Antoine Vitez, in close cooperation with the Conseil Général du Val de Marne,the Montpellier National Theatre, the festival Mimos of Périgueux and the Théâtre National des Jeunes Spectateurs of Montreuil. There have been two versions of King Frog, the first one with Alexandre Haslé, the second one with Mô Bunte.
In 2005, Ilka put it back on stage under the title King Frog III with the actress Simone Decloedt and Britta Arste, the accordion player Rudi Meier and the countertenor Christian Hilg, then later with the countertenor Philipp Kais.

Winter Journey : Production Autumn 2003 at the Théâtre Gérard Philippe of Frouard (Lorraine) in cooperation with the ABC of Bar-Le-Duc, the Théâtre Romain Rolland of Villejuif, the Prisme of Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines and the Conseil Général du Val de Marne. The play was shawn at the World Puppet Festival of Charleville-Mézières, at the Manufacture of Nancy, at the Nouveau Théâtre of Angers CDN, at the Théâtre de la Commune d’Aubervilliers and at many other theatres. The play draws its inspiration from Franz Schubert’s and Wilhelm Müller’s work, and was directed by Ute Hallaschka and Ilka Schönbein, who also created the masks and costumes and played the leading role. Christian Hilg interprets Schubert’s lieder and Rudi Meier has magnificently transposed the original work for accordion. Simone Decloedt, cast as a harpy, assists him. The French text was recorded – and then played on stage – successively by the actresses Paule d’Héria and Marie-Laure Crochant.
In spite of the immediate success of the play, Ilka decided, two weeks after the opening night, to get down to work again. She dramatised Christian Hilg’s interpretation(who took very well to his new part) and added interludes evoking both the endless journey of the character and the atmosphere of the funfair.

In 2005, with the help of the American artist Mary Sharp, Ilka included in her play actress Nathalie Pagnac who accompanied this long lyrical song and showed how this feelings of sorrow and perdition could be expressed by a body and a voice.

My Own Flesh and Blood was created in august 2006 at the Théâtre du Grand Parquet, in Paris, thanks to the Métamorphoses Singulières and ARCADI, with the support of the City of Paris, DRAC Ile de France and the Paris 18th district city council.
The play is an adaptation from a novel by Aglaja Veteranyi, Why the Child was Cooked in Polenta, a desperate and wonderfully poetical narration by a little girl under the big top, which evokes alternately the mother and daughter relationship, grief of loss, solitude, frenzy, adversity, nomadism and exile... Ilka worked on drama with Mary Sharp and entrusted to Nathalie Pagnac the interpretation of French text. The world premiere was in Charleville-Mézières Puppet Festival. In order to intensify the funfair and circus ambiance, Ilka added a third actress, Bénédicte Holvoote, for a couple of contributions in Italian. There are now four versions available, in French, Spanish, English and German. The show has been already on tour in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany.

The old lady and the beast was created in 2009 in Vidy Lausanne theater and The Grand Parquet with Alexandra Lupidi.

Patrick Sims - Les Antliaclastes
Les Antliaclastes are a puppet theatre company based in Maillet, France. The company is under the direction of Patrick Sims, founder and former creative director of Buchinger’s Boot Marionettes. Les Antliaclastes use a unique blend of puppetry techniques and styles, masks, machines, and original organic soundtracks. The primarily wordless performance moves ahead fluidly through its countless surprises and often violently contrasting images.

Patrick Sims (b.1975, Vermont USA) has been a practicing puppeteer for the past 16 years. He first became involved with puppets whilst studying film and animation at Middlebury College, USA. He has worked with Bread and Puppet Theatre, studied shadow puppetry in Java, and pursued a Phd at Trinity College Dublin with a thesis on the ‘Pataphysics of the Puppet, Alfred Jarry and the inhuman performer. For 5 years he was the artistic director, writer, puppet-maker and puppeteer for Buchinger’s Boot Marionettes. He is currently artistic director of Les Antliaclastes with whom he is engaged with several projects, including film, theatre, installations, music, and a multimedia electronic opera. His next project is being researched and developed with the support of La Chartreuse, Le Centre National d’Ecriture des Spectacles, Villeneuve lez Avignon.

Ulysse's Companions
It's the story of a group of friends who have embarked the same board with a common ideal : "To share with you the treasures of their travels". The troupe is composed of 6 good all-around actors, 4 boys and 2 girls who take on direction, writing, singing, music, sound and lighting design. Their number can vary depending of the occasion. Sometimes a violinist accompanies them, according to the type of event or at the request of the site welcoming them.

The artistic approach of the Compagnons d’Ulysse can be compared to a journey off the beaten track revealing the secret and personal unpublished writings of dead people (poets, artists, politicians, soldiers, scientists, explorers...). The aim is to unveil the hidden face of history and via a playful dialogue, give to all, adults as well as children, clues to thought.

Most of the time, we transform letters and unpublished manuscripts into theatre plays performed and embodied with a touch of freshness, brought up to date and accessible to everyone. Our main concern is to revive for everybody an appetite for culture. This is why our productions are innovative and subversive. We perform in places rarely used for theatre but which are "essentially" theatrical because they have a soul, a history (museums, churches, castles, medieval ruins, town squares, meeting rooms...)

Our approach of theatre is that culture can be brought everywhere, under all circumstances as long as it is playful and the places full of enchantment. Through our performances, we pass on a new "artistic charge" to sites that already have a great cultural value.