A multidisciplinary artist from Madagascar, active in the fields of slam poetry, theater, and visual arts, Gad Bensalem began his journey in slam in 2009 at the École Normale Supérieure of Antananarivo and quickly made a name for himself on the national stage. 

Bilingual (Malagasy and French), he explores identity and resilience through his works. Collaborating with companies from La Réunion and Madagascar, he co-wrote several plays and participated in international festivals. His works blend poetry, theatrical performance, and visual arts, often in collaboration with contemporary artists. 

His piece "Enfant" tells the story of Doda, a truck driver in Madagascar, who is searching for his missing father. During his regular stops at a bar run by Claudette, he discovers that she might have seen a man who could be his father. This intimate text, composed of monologues, delves into themes of personal quest and multilingualism. 

The president of the jury this year was Dieudonné Niangouna, a playwright, director, and actor. 

The Institut français had the pleasure of supporting a text co-written by Gad Bensalem, "La Ferme," as part of the "Des Mots à la Scène" program in 2021. 

The RFI Theater Prize aims to promote the richness of contemporary Francophone dramatic writings from the Global South and to support the career development of young authors. At the heart of this latest selection is a concern shared by younger generations: how to act to overcome catastrophe, how to change narratives, and how to envision renewal and desirable futures. More than ever, the legacy of the colonial past is being denounced in all its political and economic ramifications, including regime corruption, the tragedies of exile, terrorism, and, emerging with increasing intensity, the devastating effects of climate change, with a call to the sacred as a means to reinterpret the preservation of our ecosystems.

The Institut français is a partner of this prize, supporting the author through various residency phases in France.

The laureates:

• 2014: Julien Mabiala Bissila (Congo), Chemin de fer
• 2015: Hala Moughanie (Lebanon), Tais-toi et creuse
• 2016: Hakim Bah (Guinea), Convulsions
• 2017: Edouard Elvis Bvouma (Cameroon), La poupée barbue
• 2018: Sèdjro Giovanni Houansou (Benin), Les Inamovibles
• 2019: Valérie Cachard (Lebanon), Victoria K, Delphine Seyrig et moi ou la petite chaise jaune
• 2020: Souleymane Bah (Guinea), La Cargaison
• 2021: Jean d’Amérique (Haiti), Opéra Poussière
• 2022: Gaëlle Bien-Aimé (Haiti), Port-au-Prince et sa douce nuit
• 2023: Éric Delphin Kwégoué (Cameroon), À cœur ouvert
• 2024: Gad Bensalem (Madagascar), Enfant