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Joël Pommerat
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Joël Pommerat © David Balicki
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Joël Pommerat - "Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis" to close the France-Portugal Season 2022

The theatre offers the possibility to question and experience the human being.

One of the most iconic figures in contemporary French theatre, Joël Pommerat has written nearly twenty shows over the last two decades, most of which have been performed on international stages. The final international performance of his play Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis is due to take place as part of the France-Portugal Season at the Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II in Lisbon. 

Published on 27/10/2022

5 min

Born in 1963 in Roanne, Joël Pommerat began his acting career in Paris before deciding to devote himself to writing. In 1990 he founded the Compagnie Louis Brouillard, writing and directing all of its productions, describing himself as a "writer of shows". Au monde, presented at the Avignon Festival in 2006, was his first success. At the same time, he became known to the general public through a series of shows for children: Little Red Riding Hood (2004), Pinocchio (2008) and Cinderella (2011). At the same time, he has received numerous awards, and has enjoyed lasting success with Cercles/Fictions (2010), Ma Chambre froide (2011) and Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis (2015). In recent years, he has written and directed several operas. 

Joël Pommerat has written several books on his theatre practice, including Théâtres en présence and Troubles. It is based on stage writing, an evolutionary process in which actors' improvisations and rehearsals take place at the same time as the script is gradually assembled. In the course of his career, he has adapted several classics, particularly fairy tales, offering modern rewrites. Eminently choral, his theatre is also social, and seeks to depict collective dynamics: the world of work, economics, politics, etc. By experimenting with circular and participatory devices and the use of video, Joël Pommerat proposes a theatre that is always in renewal, but which always remains fundamentally narrative. Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis (2015), his show about the French Revolution, has been performed almost continuously since its creation. 

For almost a decade, Joël Pommerat's shows have been performed on every continent and in most of the world's major theatres. Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis (2015), a fresco about the gradual political construction of the French Revolution by its citizens, is one of his most internationally performed plays. In this epic, lasting almost four and a half hours and performed by fourteen actors, Joël Pommerat gives his vision of this fundamental period in French history, using modern costumes and dialogue. This contemporary approach has played a major role in the play's success. The final international performance will take place as part of the France-Portugal Season, at the Théâtre nacional Dona Maria II in Lisbon. 

  • 1963

    1963

    Born in Roanne.

  • 1990

    1990

    Creation of the Louis Brouillard company.

  • 2008

    2008

    Pinocchio, later staged as an opera in 2017.

  • 2011

    2011

    Molière awarded for the best living French-speaking author for Ma chambre froide.

  • 2015

    2015

    Creation of Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis.

  • 2022

    2022

    Final international performance of Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis in Lisbon.

L'institut français, LAB