France - Theatre

Festival d'Avignon opens

Article published on the 2009-07-08 Latest update 2009-07-10 09:08 TU

© Lino

The 63rd Festival d’Avignon opened with Israeli Amos Gitai’s adaptation of “The Jewish war” by Flavius Josephe. The play, narrated by Jeanne Moreau, sets the tone for this year’s production.

Wajdi Mouawad, the associate artist for the 2009 Festival, drew inspiration from his own experiences in a war-torn Lebanon as he selected performances for the production, which includes work by many Middle Eastern artists.

This year’s Festival will confront themes of war, exile, and the search for personal identity. Hortense Archambault and Vincent Avignon, co-directors of the Festival, said that the performances resonate with “issues raised by recent events; the upheaval in Madagascar, the youth protests in Greece, the deaths in Gaza, the financial crisis and its serious social consequences, the election of Barack Obama.”

The 2009 Festival D’Avignon will run from July 7 to July 29.