The Abbesses Theater is a theater located at 31, rue des Abbesses at the foot of the Montmartre hill in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Since 1996, it has been the second theater managed by the Théâtre de la Ville located at Place du Châtelet.
The project of rehabilitation of the whole
It was a question of rehabilitating this old commercial site (a set of butcher's shops, poultry merchants, and delicatessen of which the famous Cochon Rose) into a municipal theater of 2 300 m². In 1986, the city of Paris entrusted this project to the Belgian architect Charles Vandenhove, associated with Jacques Sequaris and Prudent de Wispelaere. The studies and works, which began in 1992, were to last for ten years, with the choice, rare in France, of promoting a post-modern neoclassical style of architecture inspired by the 19th century. The specifications imposed respect for the original setting of the site, the absence of impact on the view and perspective of the Bateau-Lavoir located higher up on the hillock, and the creation of about thirty social housing units in the vicinity and a crèche, all this in the political context of the time with François Mitterand.
The result: a theater in the neo-classical architecture of the district
Vandenhove wanted to respect the "neo-classical architecture" of the neighborhood, by "making current" the pediments, capitals, columns, curved zinc roofs, using stone and light concrete colored in the mass.
The entrance portico is inspired by the work of American artist Robert Barry. Decorations for the proscenium curtain and side galleries were created by Olivier Debré. The murals were the subject of a conflict between the then director of the theater, Gérard Violette, and the artist, leading the latter to sue. Part of the interior design (the foyer in the basement) and the courtyard are by Daniel Buren (Soleils and Garde-corps4) as well as by the visual artists Jean-Charles Blais, Loïck Le Groumellec, and Patrick Corillon3.
The artistic complex also includes four rehearsal and dance studios (Serge Lifar studio, Martha Graham studio, Vaslav Nijinsky studio, George Balanchine studio), accessible from below by rue Véron, and managed in part by the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris.
On November 18, 1996, the 420-seat theater des Abbesses was inaugurated with a pocket opera L'Épouse injustement soupçonnée by Jean Cocteau
The program of the Theater
Very close to Pigalle, this theater of contemporary dance, world music, classical music is the 2nd theater of the City. Its programming is directly linked to that of the Théâtre de la Ville de la Place du Châtelet: the successful shows of young choreographers, companies, authors or directors can allow them to be programmed the following year on the Place du Châtelet stage, for a revival or a new creation. On average, the Théâtre des Abbesses puts on about a hundred performances a year.
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