Festival productions

Performances of the programme

For each edition the Festival invites about fifty performances. The operating and hosting expenses of some productions are covered. Support for fundraising from co-producers, local, national and foreign authorities is provided too. The performances invited come from the five continents, teams are international and the Festival d'Avignon production service is committed to work in an intercultural context all year long during the preparation and the hosting.

The Festival d'Avignon is above all a festival of creation which represents more than two third of the programming.

It emerges that the number of performances carried by French teams and those carried by European and non-European teams are equal. A lot of performances are presented in the original language with French surtitles. The audience is quite used to this specificity that is part of the Festival DNA for more than 20 years. The demand for discovery and immersion in languages and cultures is also a characteristic of the Festival and its audience. The programming and production teams of the Festival ensure the quality of the translation and surtitles, often especially ordered for Avignon.

Before being presented in July, some projects are welcomed for several weeks residency at the FabricA of the Festival d'Avignon since 2014.

Under the direction of Olivier Py, the Festival d'Avignon emphasizes on creation for the young audience and itinerant performances that are the challenges of tomorrow.
- Each summer, the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs in Avignon has become the young audience place.
It is a highly symbolic place, right in the heart of the city, because of its history and also easy to access for families.
- Three creations for an audience aged 7 to 77 follow one another during the three weeks of the Festival.
Itinerant theatre with a light set-up takes place in unconventional places, outdoors venues (squares, gymnasiums, halls, prisons, yards...). This type of theatre contributes to the three kilometres decentralisation, a fortunate expression to show the Festival is also on the roads, gets out of the walls and thanks to a network of partners and involved villages, can settle next to an audience to conquer. Each edition offers a new creation and organises a tour in about fifteen surrounding municipalities.

Regularly the participation of non-professional extras and amateurs is requested by directors and choreographers, which generates an active participation of the Avignon residents and very rich artistic encounters.

In addition the fifty performances, the programme includes several readings and concerts co-presented or co-organised within partnerships, as well as exhibitions especially produced for the festival-goers.

Executive production

The Festival d'Avignon plays the role of executive producer for some of the artists invited. The Festival is responsible for sourcing the financial and technical requirements of those productions. It also employs the artists and stage technicians, builds the decors in its workshops in Avignon and ensures the distribution of the show in France and abroad as well as the administration of the tours.

- Love Triumphant, written and directed by Olivier Py (2019)
- The Odyssey, by Homer, created by Blandine Savetier (2019)
- Friendship, directed Irène Bonnaud (2019)
- Macbeth philosopher, by William Shakespeare, directed by Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet with the Centre pénitentiaire Avignon-Le Pontet (2019)
- Pure present, written and directed by Olivier Py (2018)
- Ladies, Gentlemen and the rest of the world, created by David Bobée (2018)
- Antigone, by Sophocle, directed by Olivier Py with the Centre pénitentiaire Avignon-Le Pontet (2018)
- A Lad's Word, by Nadjette Boughalem with the Maison Pour Tous Champfleury (2018)
- The Parisians, written and directed by Olivier Py (2017)
- Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, directed by Olivier Py with the Centre pénitentiaire Avignon-Le Pontet (2017)
- We'll have everything, created by Christiane Taubira and Anne-Laure Liégeois (2017)
- Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus, French text and direction Olivier Py (2016)
- Straight to the Heart, choreographied by Thierry Thieû Niang (2016)
- The Sky, the Night and the glorious Stone, created by La Piccola Familia (2016)
- King Lear, by William Shakespeare, translation and direction Olivier Py (2015)
- The Prince of Homburg, by Heinrich von Kleist, direction Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (2014)
- Orlando or Impatience, text and direction Olivier Py (2014)
- The Girl, the Devil and the Mill, after the tales of the Brothers Grimm, text and direction Olivier Py (2014)
- Cour d'honneur, direction Jérôme Bel (2013)
- Walk about the Villages, text Peter Handke, direction Stanislas Nordey (2013)
- Ultimate track, direction Séverine Chavrier (2012)
- At Least I Will Have Left a Beautiful Corpse, after William Shakespeare, direction Vincent Macaigne (2011)
- Miss Julie, by August Strindberg, direction Frédéric Fisbach (2011)
- My Secret Garden, text Falk Richter and Stanislas Nordey (2010)
- The Tragedy of King Richard II, by William Shakespeare, direction Jean-Baptiste Sastre (2010)
- Papperlapapp, direction Christoph Marthaler and Anna Viebrock (2010)
- Angelo, the Tyrant of Padua, by Victor Hugo, direction Christophe Honoré (2009)
- The War of the Sons of Light Againts the Sons of Darkness, direction Amos Gitai (2009)
- Break of Noon, by Paul Claudel, direction Gaël Baron, Nicolas Bouchaud, Charlotte Clamens, Valérie Dréville and Jean-François Sivadier (2008)
- Le Silence des communistes, by Vittorio Foa, Miriam Mafai and Alfredo Reichlin, direction Jean-Pierre Vincent (2007)
- Cruda, vuelta y vuelta, al punto, chamuscada, direction Rodrigo García (2007)
- Paso Doble, direction Miquel Barceló and Josef Nadj (2006)

Villes en scènes / Cities on stage with the Festival d'Avignon (2014-2015)

European project led by the Théâtre National de Bruxelles and supported by the Folkteatern Göteborg (Sweden), the Teatro de La Abadia (Madrid-Spain), the Teatro Stabile di Napoli (Italy), the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe (Paris-France), the Teatrul National Radu Stanca (Sibiu-Romania), the Festival d'Avignon (France), Villes en scènes / Cities on stage (VESCOS 2011-2016) offers to European artists and structures to reflect about the issue of living together in the world's major cities, through theatrical creations, installation and workshops.

- Tigern, by Giania Carbunariu, directed by Sofia Jupither (2016)
- Hacia la alegría, written and directed by Olivier Py (2015)
- Say what you don't mean, in a language you don't speak, written by Bernardo Carvalho, directed by Antônio Araújo (2014)
- Le sorelle Macaluso, written and directed by Emma Dante (2014)
- Solitaritate, written and directed by Gianina Carbunariu (2014)