(Paris) Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad, who has directed the Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris since 2016, was reappointed on Tuesday for a new term until 2027.
Mr. Mouawad, 55, continued to occupy this position while his first mandate was due to end in 2021, according to the statutes of this theater dedicated to contemporary writing since its founding in 1988.
This year 2021 has been turbulent for the Théâtre de la Colline, first occupied in March by unionists, activists and students demanding the reopening of cultural venues closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then in October, Wajdi Mouawad sparked outrage by entrusting the music for one of his shows, Motherto Bertrand Cantat, who had killed the actress Marie Trintignant 18 years previously, and by programming a play directed by Jean-Pierre Baro, targeted two years previously by a complaint for rape which was dismissed.
“Every person who is free under the law has the right to come and go, to be invited as a spectator or as an artist,” he then proclaimed.
Jean-Pierre Baro had given up, “because the conditions were not calm”. But Mother could have been performed, with police preventing feminist activists from disrupting the performance.
“Since 2016, Mr. Wajdi Mouawad has been developing an innovative project and an ambitious artistic program,” said the Ministry of Culture in its press release.
“Recognized as one of the most unifying artists in theater today, he pays particular attention to contemporary authors,” continued the ministry.
He congratulated him for having “known how to assert an international dimension by welcoming creations from Europe, North America and the Middle East”, and “making theater ever more accessible to audiences who are far from it” .