Avignon’s cultural
scene hits the headlines every July, with the Avignon
Festival, created by Jean Vilar in 1947. It is the oldest
and most famous of the festivals to take place in France. Originally
pure theatre, the event now includes contemporary and religious
music, dance, circus, poetry, films, exhibitions and debates involving
up to 600 separate organisations. The most prestigious productions
are performed in the vast Palais des Papes courtyard,
others within theatres, churches and sports halls. The Chartreuse,
at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, showcases the contemporary theatre
of the Avignon Festival, as well as a separate musical theatre festival,
Villeneuve en Scène.
The Bureau du Festival d’Avignon (and box
office) is located at the Espace Saint-Louis, 20 rue du Portail
Boquier (telephone number: (04) 9014 1460, website: www.festival-avignon.com).
Alongside the official festival (locally known as the ‘In’),
the ‘Off’ fringe festival enlivens city streets and
courtyards with a carnival atmosphere. The ‘In’ programme
is available on the website from March, or from the Bureau du Festival
d’Avignon or the Avignon Tourist Office (see Sightseeing)
as of the second week in May. Tickets are available by telephone
(telephone number: (04) 9014 1414) or on the website, from June
onwards. The ‘Off’ programme is published in mid-June
by Paris-based Avignon Public Off (telephone number: (01) 4805 0119;
fax number: (01) 4805 4067, e-mail: festoff@wanadoo.fr;
website: www.avignon-off.org).
During the festival, the headquarters are within the Conservatoire
de Musique, 9 Place du Palais des Papes (telephone number:
(04) 9082 1537, fax number: (04) 9086 4063).
Tickets to all other performances and cultural events in Avignon
are available for purchase from the individual venue box offices,
in advance or on the day. The tourist office publishes a monthly
calendar of events in Rendez-Vouz.
Music
The gracious Opéra d’Avignon (telephone
number: (04) 9082 8140), built in 1847, overlooks place de l’Horloge.
The season runs from October to June and includes operas, operettas
and symphonic and chamber music concerts, as well as theatre and
ballet. The Musique Sacrée en Avignon, 49
rue Portail Magnanen (telephone number: (04) 9082 2175), organises
free concerts in churches from October to May.
Theatre
Avignon has about ten permanent theatres, as well as the opera house.
The Théâtre du Chêne Noir, 8
rue Ste-Catherine (telephone number: (04) 9086 5811), draws well-known
actors and directors, while the Théâtre du
Chien qui Fume, 75 rue des Teinturiers (telephone number:
(04) 9085 2587), puts on a varied programme of theatre, music and
improvisation evenings.
The Théâtre
des Halles, 4 rue Noël Biret (telephone number: (04)
9085 5257), excels in contemporary theatre, while cutting-edge Théâtre
des Carmes, 6 place des Carmes (telephone number: (04)
9082 2047), is run by the André Benedetto company, one of
the founders of the Festival ‘Off’. Theatre tickets
tend to be cheaper than the Festival ‘On’ and the season
runs from October to May.
Dance
Dance has its own moment of glory during February, when Les
Hivernales contemporary dance festival takes place at La
Manutention, 4 rue escalier Ste Anne (telephone number:
(04) 9082 3312. The Théâtre de la Danse,
1 rue Ste Catherine (telephone number: (04) 9086 0127) offers courses
and performances year round.
Film
Avignon has about twenty cinemas. Cinéma Utopia,
at La Manutention arts centre, 4 rue escalier Ste Anne (telephone
number: (04) 9082 6536), shows undubbed arthouse films. Utopia has
another cinema located at 5 rue Figuière, north of place
St Didier, where dubbed films creep into the screenings. Utopia
also produces La Gazette Utopia, a free monthly
listings magazine. Cinema Vox, 22 place de l’Horloge
(telephone number: (04) 9082 0361), offers mainstream films, with
the odd arthouse film, some in the original language. One of Avignon’s
largest cinemas is the 10-screen Pathé Cap Sud,
175 rue Pierre Sémard, route de Marseille (telephone number:
(08) 3668 2288).
Cultural Events
Without doubt, Avignon’s key cultural event is the Avignon
Festival in July. However, another cultural highlight is
the Avignon Film Festival, which takes place every
June and is a showcase for independent filmmakers from America,
France and Europe.
Literary
Notes
Petrarch (1304-1374) brought
the theme of idealised love to Avignon, where he first set enchanted
eyes on Laure, in 1327. This earthly incarnation of perfection inspired
the Canzoniere, over 300 poems, mainly sonnets, on the subject of
platonic love. Not withstanding the fated meeting, Petrarch detested
Avignon, which he famously described as ‘a sewer where all
the filth of the universe has gathered.’
Frédéric
Mistral (born in 1830, between Arles and Avignon) drew
on the troubadour tradition with his love poetry, Mireille
(1859), about star-crossed lovers. Written in both Provençal
and French, the tragic tale won Mistral a Nobel Prize and revived
the dying Provençal language. Together with Avignon-born
Theodore Aubanel, he founded the Felibrige movement
and helped revive Provençal tradition.
Avignon-born writer Pierre Boulle (1912–1994)
won international renown with Planet of the Apes (1963)
and Bridge Across the River Kwai (1952), both later
made into films. English-language writers have painted a mythical
picture of Provence as a sun-drenched idyll, most famously in Peter
Mayle’s bestselling A Year in Provence (1989).
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