Olivier Py Announces Programming for the Festival d'Avignon 2022

"Il Était Une Fois" or "Once Upon A Time" is the theme of this year's Festival d'Avignon. Olivier Py announced the programme this past Thursday in Avignon, where he has been the artistic director since 2014. 2022 marks his final year in the role, as he will be passing the torch to artist Tiago Rodrigues. Born in Lisbon in 1977, Rodrigues is the first non French artistic director since the Festival's founding. His production of Chekhov's Cherry Orchard, La Cerisaie in French, headlined in the Festival's Cour d'Honneur in 2021.

It's always difficult to determine what will bubble to the surface as the most significant performance of any Festival. Word of mouth is vital during the month of July, this is especially true in the overwhelming "Off" programme. As always there is a mix of revitalized classics, Anne Théron's Iphigénie, and Alessandro Serra's La Tempesta (Shakespeare's The Tempest) at the newly restored Opéra Grand Avignon stand out, and works that explore the outskirts of the avant garde in dance and performance art. The Cour d'Honneur, the most prestigious and daunting theatrical space of the Festival, will host Chekhov's The Black Monk, Le Moine Noir, by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov. The Cour's dance work will be Futur Proche by Jan Martens. Christophe Rauck will present another Avignon tradition, Shakespeare's Richard II, at the Gymnase du lycée Aubanel. Lastly, for English speakers, the remarkable Kae Tempest will be at La Cour d'Honneur for one performance only with The Line is a Curve.

Tickets for 10,000 seats will be made available online starting on Saturday May 21st at 2:00pm Paris time. The box office for the other 110,000 tickets for sale will officially open online on June 4th, by telephone June 7th, and at the ticket office on June 11th. As always, The Festival d'Avignon has a long distinguished history as a public service. Access, particularly to students and young audiences, is a value. The Carte 3 Clés gives a reduced cost with a deeper discount for those looking for work (demandeur d'emploi), receiving minimum wage benefits, are under 26 years old, or are students. The final words from Olivier Py on his chosen Festival theme are "May the Festival d'Avignon always be a space of youth, of expression, and of what's to come."

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