Philippe Adrien

Philippe Adrien (born 1939 in Savignies) is a French stage director, actor, author and screenwriter.

Career

Acting career

In 1959 he appeared in the war film Green Harvest.

As a playwright

At the end of the 1960s, Adrien, already started a career as a playwright: La Baye, staged in 1967 by Antoine Bourseiller, with Jean-Pierre Léaud and Suzanne Flon —and thirty years later by Laurent Pelly—showed a taste for disorder that would later draw Philippe Adrien toward authors of irreverence such as Jarry, Gombrowicz, Witkiewicz, Cami or even Copi… As a director he would assert himself in the 1970s, through experimental workshops: L’excès adapted from Georges Bataille; L’oeil de la tête—effet Sade (who he would revisit in 1989 with Enzo Cormann’s text Sade, concert d’enfers), Le Pupille veut être tuteur by Peter Handke; La Résistance; as many questions and provocations targeting the theatre, its boundaries and its contents. It was in Germany that he first tackled Molière (Dom Juan and George Dandin), whose works he would never cease exploring—and to whom he would consecrate his 1979 play Le Défi de Molière.

The beginning of the 1980s was a pivotal moment. Jarry (Ubu roi and Ubu cocu) and Witkiewicz (La poule d’eau) extended his preceding cycle’s gestures of liberation and provocation; the theatre remained defined as the scenic transcription of thought processes. It was through the oeuvre of Kafka that Philippe Adrien would operate the shift, revealing a screwball, jubilatory dimension with Une Visite, adapted from L’Amérique, while Rêves de Kafka placed the act of dreaming at the heart of creation.

In 1981 Philippe Adrien was named Director of the Théâtre des Quartiers d’Ivry, replacing Antoine Vitez; there he presented Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (Molière, once again), Brecht’s Homme pour homme, his own La Funeste Passion du professeur Forenstein, and Heiner Müller’s La Mission.

Invited in 1983 at La Comédie-Française to direct Molière’s Amphitryon and Le Médecin Volant, he continued to work with the same troupe to produce: Jean-Claude Grumberg’s Maman revient, pauvre orphelin, Véronique Olmi’s Point à la ligne, Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s L’Incorruptible, Molière’s Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, Werner Schwab’s Extermination du peuple, Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, and Genet’s Les Bonnes. During the same interval Philippe Adrien directed two productions of Tennessee Williams: Un tramway nommé désir, with Caroline Cellier, at the Théâtre Eldorado, then Doux oiseau de jeunesse, with Claudia Cardinale, at the Théâtre de la Madeleine.

In 1985, he creates L'Atelier de Recherche et de Réalisation Théâtrale, which he is still working with. For Philippe Adrien, this period also bears the imprint of his teaching at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique (1989–2003). Numerous projects were born of this exercise: Shakespeare (Hamlet, then Le Roi Lear), Marivaux (Les Acteurs de bonne foi and La Méprise), Claudel (L’Annonce faite à Marie), Brecht (La Noce chez les petits bourgeois), Beckett (En attendant Godot), Vitrac (Victor ou les enfants au pouvoir), Gombrowicz (Yvonne, princesse de Bourgogne), Copi (L’Homosexuel ou la difficulté de s'exprimer), Armando Llamas (Meurtres de la princesse juive)... and in 2010 Feydeau’s Le Dindon, which garnered four nominations at the Molière Awards, toured for three years, and had a revival during the 2014 summer at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin.

He received acclaim for a 1993 production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Théâtre de la Tempête, which he directed.

His connection with the African continent led Philippe Adrien to direct Kinkali, by Arnaud Bédouet, at the Théâtre National de la Colline (awarded Best Show: New Play and best author at the Molières, 1997); and to take an interest in the issue of colonization, first with Philippe Auger’s Mélédouman, then with Le Projet Conrad, an adaptation of the short story Un Avant-poste du progrès, and, in 2014, with Boesman et Lena, by the South-African playwright Athol Fugard. He also brought Amos Tutuola’s novel L’Ivrogne dans la brousse to the stage.

In addition, in collaboration with the blind actor Bruno Netter and his Compagnie du Troisième Oeil, composed of both handicapped and normally abled actors, he created Molière’s Le Malade Imaginaire in 2001, followed by Kafka’s Le Procès, Sophocle’s Oedipe, Cervantès’ Don Quichotte, and Ionesco’s Les Chaises.

In 2005 he directed a production of Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth, which starred Claudia Cardinale.

Philippe Adrien has been the director and programmer of the Théâtre de la Tempête, located in La Cartoucherie, for twenty years. Since then, the Théâtre de la Tempête has welcomed young companies as well as experienced directors, and played as many contemporary plays as classic ones.

In recent years La Mouette, then Ivanov, have placed Chekhov amongst Philippe Adrien’s benchmark playwrights, alongside Claudel--Partage de midi and Protée—and Molière—L’École des femmes, which was nominated for Best Director at the 2014 Molière Award and is on tour until 2016.

In the meantime, Philippe Adrien has also staged many contemporary writers: Juan Mayorga (La Tortue de Darwin), Werner Schwab (Excédent de poids, insignifiant: amorphe), and Blandine Solange (an adaptation of Exposition d’une femme, lettre d’une psychotique…). And finally, two plays co-written with Jean-Louis Bauer: Bug! attempts, by way of a dream-journey through our memory and current scientific and artistic issues, to provide an overview of our civilization; while La Grande Nouvelle, a contemporary variation on Le Malade imaginaire, plays on the ironies of the present-day desire for immortality.

Prizes and awards

• 1985 : Grand Prix du théâtre du Syndicat de la critique for his adaptation of Rêves by Kafka, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête and revival at the Festival Purchase, New York.
• 1991 : nomination for the Prix Dominique for Best Director for L'Annonce faite à Marie
• Molières 1991 : nomination for the Molière Award for Best Director for L'Annonce faite à Marie
• Molières 1997 : Molière Award for Best New Show for Kinkali by Arnaud Bédouet (Molière Award for Best Playwright)
• 1997 : Grand Prix des arts de la scène of Paris
• Molières 2011 : nomination for the Molière Award for Best Director for Le Dindon
• Molières 2011 : nomination for the Molière Award for Public Theatre for Le Dindon
• Molières 2014 : nomination for the Molière Award for Public Theatre Show's Best Director for L'École des femmes

Publications

• La Baye, Editions Cent Pages, 1967
• Translation of Le Pupille veut être tuteur by Peter Handke, L'Arche, 1975
• Instant par instant, en classe d'interprétation, Actes Sud-Papiers, 1998

Works

Cinema

• 1959 : La Verte Moisson by François Villiers

Television

• 1964 : Les Cinq Dernières Minutes : 45 tours... et puis s'en vont by Bernard Hecht

Theatre

Actor

• 1964 : Le carrosse du saint sacrement by Prosper Mérimée, directed by Henri Rocca, Montpazier (Périgord)

• 1971 : Les Brigands by Friedrich von Schiller, directed by Antoine Bourseiller, Théâtre du Gymnase

• 1975 : Le pupille veut être tuteur by Peter Handke, directed by Jean-Claude Fall and Philippe Adrien, Théâtre Essaïon

Director

• 1965 : Les Croisés , creation at the Biennale de Paris

• 1967 : Arrête d'être belle, creation at the Biennale de Paris

• 1969 : La Douloureuse mutation des Zupattes, creation at the Biennale de Paris

• 1970 : Albert 1er by Philippe Adrien, creation at the Stadttheater Münster RFA

• 1973 : L'Excès, creation at the Petit-Odéon – théâtre national

• 1973 : Qu'est-ce qui frappe ici si tôt ? by Philippe Madral, creation at the Théâtre Ouvert, and then at the Festival d'Avignon

• 1973 : Frankenstein by Wolgang Deichsel, creation at the Théâtre Cyrano

• 1973 : Dialogades by Serge Ganzl, creation at the Café Théâtre du Tripot

• 1974 : La Résistance, creation at the Théâtre des Amandiers de Nanterre

• 1974 : Les Bottes de l'ogre

• 1975 : L'Œil de la tête – Effet Sade, creation at the Festival Europalia Bruxelles, Festival d'Automne, Théâtre Récamier

• 1975 : Albertine by Serge Ganzl, creation at the Petit Odéon – théâtre national

• 1975 : Le Pupille veut être tuteur by Peter Handke, creation at the Théâtre Essaïon

• 1976 : Représentation, creation at the Théâtre Essaïon

• 1977 : George Dandin by Molière, creation at the Schauspielhaus de Düsseldorf, RFA

• 1979 : Dom Juan by Molière, creation at the Schauspielhaus de Düsseldorf, RFA

• 1979 : Le Défi by Molière, creation at the C.D.N. de Reims

• 1980 : Ubu roi by Alfred Jarry , creation at the C.D.N. de Reims

• 1980 : La Poule d'eau by S.I. Witkiewicz, creation at the Théâtre de la Commune d'Aubervilliers, and then at the Festival Bitef de Belgrade

• 1981 : Monsieur de Pourceaugnac by Molière, creation at the C.D.N. de Reims, and then at the Théâtre de la Commune d'Aubervilliers and at the Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry

• 1981 : Une visite after Franz Kafka, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 1981, then at the Festival de Florence, Festival de Saarbrück

• 1982 : La Mission by Heiner Müller, creation at the Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry

• 1982 : Correspondances from Gérard de Nerval, creation at the Festival Les Intérieurs

• 1982 : La Funeste Passion du professeur Forenstein, creation at the Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry

• 1983 : Amphitryon and Le Médecin volant by Molière, creation at the Comédie Française

• 1983 : Homme pour homme by Bertolt Brecht, Fartov and Belcher, creation at the Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry and at the CDN de Reims

• 1984 : Rêves by Kafka // Prix de la Critique 85, creation at the Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry, at the Centre Georges Pompidou, at the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, in RFA, at the Hollande Festival, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 1985, tour at the Festival Purchase – New-York in 1985 [59 shows]

• 1985 : Ké Voï ? by Enzo Cormann, creation at the Festival d'Avignon, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête [55 shows]

• 1986 : Des Aveugles by Hervé Guibert, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête / Festival d'Automne in 1986 [47 shows]

• 1987 : La Vénus à la fourrure from Sacher Masoch and Les Pragmatistes by Witkiewicz, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 1987 [57 shows]

• 1987 : La Méprise and Les Acteurs de bonne foi by Marivaux, creation at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in 1987

• 1988 : Cami, drames de la vie courante by Cami, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête en 1988, tour around France and Denmark (Hvidovre Teater) [110 shows]

• 1989 : Amou'toujou', recital with Lisette Malidor, creation at the MAC de Créteil in 1989, worldwide tour from 1990 to 1999 [62 shows]

• 1989 : Sade, concert d'enfers by Enzo Cormann, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 1989 [27 shows]

• 1989 : Le Journal intime by Luc Ferrari, musical theatre, creation at the Lierre, tour

• 1990 : L'Annonce faite à Marie by Paul Claudel , creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 1990, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 1991, tour around France, Europe Centrale, ex-USSR in 1993 [125 shows]

• 1991 : Les Bacchantes by Euripide, French translation by Jean-Daniel Magnin, creation at L'Hippodrome – Douai, at the Sorano – CDN de Toulouse and at the TGP [30 shows]

• 1992 : Le Baladin du monde occidental by John Millington Synge, creation at the Théâtre National de Bretagne (TNB) in December 1992

• 1992 : Grand-peur et misère du IIIe Reich by Bertolt Brecht, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in October 1992, tour in 1994 [68 shows]

• 1993 : La Tranche by Jean-Daniel Magnin, creation at the Théâtre Ouvert in January 1993, then at the Festival d'Avignon in July 1993 and at the Théâtre de la Bastille in September 1993 [39 shows]

• 1993 : En attendant Godot by Samuel Beckett , creation at the Festival de Blaye in August 1993 and at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 1993, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 1994, worldwide tour in 1994, 1995 and 1996 [179 shows]

• 1994 : Gustave n'est pas moderne by Armando Llamas, creation at the Théâtre de la Colline in April 1994 [53 shows]

• 1994 : You-you by Jovan Atchine and Jeanne du métro by Vidosav Stevanovic, creation at the Petit-Odéon – Théâtre de l'Europe in 1994 [8 shows]

• 1994 : Maman revient, pauvre orphelin by Jean-Claude Grumberg , creation at the Comédie Française in the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in November 1994

• 1995 : La Noce chez les Petits-Bourgeois by Bertolt Brecht, creation at the Festival de Blaye in August 1995 and then at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 1995, tour around France from November 1995 to February 1996 [112 shows]

• 1995 : Les Bonnes by Jean Genet, creation at the Comédie Française at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in November 1995, revivals at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier and salle Richelieu in 1997, 1998 et 2000, tour around France

• 1995 : Diverses blessures by Enzo Cormann, musical theatre, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in December 1995, revival in December 1996 [30 shows]

• 1996 : Hamlet by Shakespeare , creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 1996, tour around France in 1996, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 1997, tour around France and the French Antilles in 1997 [109 shows]

• 1997 : Kinkali by Arnaud Bedouët // Molière Awards 1997 of Best New Show and Best Playwright, creation at the Théâtre de la Colline in January 1997, tour around France

• 1997 : L'Homosexuel ou la difficulté de s'exprimer by Copi , creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 1997, tour at the international festival of Sarajevo in October 1997 (Prix d'interprétation), revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September [67 shows]

• 1998 : La Fiancée du vent, texts and songs on slavery, with Lisette Malidor, creation at the TILF in May 1998, tour around France and the Indian Ocean in 1998, tour around France and the French Antilles in 1999 [21 shows]

• 1998 : Victor ou les Enfants au pouvoir de Roger Vitrac, creation at the Chantiers de Blaye in August 1998 and then at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 1998, tour around France / Luxembourg in 1998 and 2000 [108 shows]

• 1998 : Point à la ligne by Véronique Olmi , creation in November 1999 at the Comédie Française in the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier

• 1998 : Arcadia by Tom Stoppard , creation in November 1999 at the Comédie Française in the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, then in the salle Richelieu

• 1999 : Un tramway nommé désir by Tennessee Williams, creation at the Théâtre de l'Eldorado in January 1999

• 1999 : L'Incorruptible by Hugo von Hofmannsthal , creation at the Comédie Française in the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in November 1999

• 1999 : Excédent de poids : insignifiant, amorphe by Werner Schwab, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 1999 [30 shows]

• 2000 : Le Roi Lear by Shakespeare, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2000, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2001, tours in 2000, 2001 and 2002 [118 shows]

• 2001 : Monsieur de Pourceaugnac by Molière, creation at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier in September 2001

• 2001 : Le Malade imaginaire by Molière (with the Compagnie du 3e Œil), creation at the Festival d'Avignon in July 2001 and then at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2001, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in 2003, tour from 2001 to 2003 [219 shows]

• 2002 : L'Ivrogne dans la brousse by Amos Tutuola, adapted to the stage by Philippe Adrien, creation at the Festival Les Chantiers de Blaye in August 2002 and then at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2002, revival and tour in 2003/04 [104 shows]

• 2002 : Extermination du peuple by Werner Schwab, creation at the Comédie Française in the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in November 2002

• 2003 : L'Incroyable Voyage by Gilles Granouillet, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in January 2003, revival at the Comédie de Saint-Etienne and in Nice [34 shows]

• 2003 : L'Enfant rêve by Hanokh Levin, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in June 2003

• 2003 : Cadavres exquis from the Grand-Guignol's repertoire, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in November 2003, tour in 2004 [39 shows]

• 2004 : Rufus joue les fantaisistes , creation at the Festival d'Avignon in July 2004, revival at the Théâtre du Rond-Point

• 2004 : Yvonne, princesse de Bourgogne by Witold Gombrowicz , creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2004, tour in 2005/06 [81 shows]

• 2005 : Doux Oiseau de jeunesse by Tennessee Williams , creation at the Théâtre de la Madeleine

• 2005 : Le Procès by Kafka (with the Compagnie du 3e Œil), creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in January 2005, revival and tour in 2006

• 2005 : Mélédouman by Philippe Auger, creation in Brazzaville (Congo), tour in the Central African Republic, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in April 2005 [19 shows for the creation]

• 2005 : La Noce chez les Petits-Bourgeois… créoles after Bertolt Brecht , creation at the Festival d'Avignon in 2005, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in April 2006 [27 shows]

• 2005 : Andromaque by Racine, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2005, tour around France and Marocco from October 2006 to July 2007 [91 shows]

• 2005 : L'Ecclésiaste, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2005 [30 shows]

• 2006 : Phèdre by Racine, creation in Martinique in May 2006, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2006

• 2006 : La Mouette by Anton Tchekhov , creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2006, tour and revival from January to April 2008 [84 shows]

• 2007 : Meurtres de la princesse juive by Armando Llamas, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in March 2007, tour in April 2007 [33 shows]

• 2007 : Don Quichotte by Cervantès (with the Compagnie du 3e Œil), creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2007 [58 shows]

• 2008 : Ivanov by Anton Tchekhov , creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2008, revival and tour from January to May 2010 [94 shows]

• 2009 : Œdipe by Sophocle (with the Compagnie du 3e Œil), creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in January 2009 [30 shows]

• 2009 : Une vie de château by Jean-Louis Bauer and Michel Couvelard, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in June 2009 [5 shows]

• 2009 : Le Projet Conrad, un avant-poste du progrès after Joseph Conrad, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2009 [34 shows]

• 2010 : Le Dindon by George Feydeau // 4 nominations for the Molière Awards 2011 , creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2010, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2011, tour from January to June 2012 and from December 2012 to May 2013, revival in Paris in June 2013 [229 shows]

• 2011 : La Tortue de Darwin by Juan Mayorga, creation at the Théâtre des Osses (Suisse) in March 2011 [24 shows]

• 2011 : Les Chaises by Eugène Ionesco (with the Compagnie du 3e Œil), creation at the Festival d'Avignon in July 2011 and then at the Théâtre de la Tempête in October 2011 [58 shows]

• 2012 : Ce soir, on improvise by Luigi Pirandello , creation at L'Atrium – scène nationale de la Martinique in January 2012

• 2012 : L'Affaire by Jean-Louis Bauer, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in June 2012 [4 shows]

• 2012 : Bug ! by Jean-Louis Bauer and Philippe Adrien, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2012 [31 shows]

• 2012 : Exposition d'une femme after Blandine Solange, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in November 2012 [28 shows]

• 2013 : Partage de midi by Paul Claudel // nomination for the Palmarès du théâtre 2013, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in January 2013, tour from January to February 2014 [43 shows]

• 2013 : Protée by Paul Claudel // Prix Poquelin, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in January 2013, revival and tour from January to May 2014 [50 shows]

• 2013 : L’Ecole des femmes by Molière // nomination for the Molière Award 2014 for Best Director and for the Molière Award 2015 for Feminine Revelation, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2013, tour from November 2014 to April 2015 and from November 2015 to May 2016 [more than 125 shows]

• 2014 : Boesman et Lena by Athol Fugard , creation at the Grace Art Théâtre (Guadeloupe) and Chapelle du Verbe Incarné (Avignon) in 2014, revival at the Théâtre de la Tempête in March 2015 [59 shows]

• 2015 : La Grande Nouvelle by Jean-Louis Bauer and Philippe Adrien // nomination for the Molière 2015 for Female Newcomer, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête in September 2014 [27 shows]

• 2015 : La Maison d’à côté by Sharr White // nomination for the Molière Award 2015 for Best Supporting Actress, creation at the Théâtre du Petit Saint Martin in January 2015

• 2015 : The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens, adapted from the novel by Mark Haddon, creation at the Théâtre de la Tempête from 11 September to 18 October 2015