With the Penitentiary Centre

Opened in March 2003, the Penitentiary Centre replaced the prison which was located in the centre of Avignon. Under the jurisdiction of the Avignon High Court and the Nîmes Court of Appeal, it is located in Le Pontet, in the immediate vicinity of Avignon. A partnership and actions have been set up between the Avignon Festival, the Penitentiary Centre and the SPIP 84 (Penitentiary Service for Integration and Probation) since then.

At the request of several inmates met in June 2014, Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet proposed a regular acting course at the Penitentiary Centre for a dozen volunteer inmates. A performance of Prometheus in Chains took place on 6 July in the Centre in front of a hundred people, inmates, administrative and supervisory staff, journalists and outside guests in the presence of Christine Taubira, Keeper of the Seals and Minister of Justice. 

Since then, the theatre workshops have continued and in some years, the prisoners also perform outside the prison as part of the Festival d'Avignon.

2015 // Prométhée enchaîné - Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet

For having offered the arts and fire to men, Prometheus embodies disobedience. Because it is fundamentally political, this play offers, according to Olivier Py, a "lesson in insurrection". 

On July 6, 2015, the detained actors of the Avignon-Le Pontet penitentiary centre offered a performance of Prométhéé enchaîné in the gym.

2016 // Hamlet - Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet

On July 8, 2016, the actors of the Avignon-Le Pontet penitentiary centre performed Hamlet in the gym. The spectators present in front of an audience composed of prisoners, staff and politicians.

A year later, for the first time, the prisoners performed Hamlet at the Maison Jean Vilar in front of more than 400 people.

More about Hamlet

2017 // Antigone - Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet

On 10 July 2017, the actors performed Antigone in their gym.  

In 2018, as part of the Vis-à-vis Festival, a performance of the play is played outside the walls, in Paris at the Théâtre Paris-Villette. In July 2018, in parallel with the creation of a new play, they present Antigone at La Scierie, as part of the 72nd Festival d'Avignon.

More about Antigone

2018 // Les Perses - Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet

On 9 July 2018, the inmates present their new play Les Perses in the gym.

2019 // MacBeth philosophe - Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet

On 10 July 2019, the actors present their new play MacBeth Philosophe in the gym. Then from 17 to 19 July at the Tinel de la Chartreuse in Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon.

More about MacBeth Philosophe

2020 // Othello Astrologue - Olivier Py and Enzo Verdet 

n 2020, despite the COVID and a halt to the theatre practice workshops, the project continued. The cancellation of the Festival did not allow the presentation of the OTHELLO they were preparing.

More about Othello Astrologue

2021-2022 // Œdipe - Enzo Verdet

In 2021, the group worked on an adaptation of Seneca's Oedipus, which will be performed in July 2022 at the prison.

2022 - 2023 // Waiting for Godot - Enzo Verdet 

Since 2022 the actors have been working on an adaptation of En attendant Godot by Samuel Beckett.

"There is nothing trivial about working on Waiting for Godot with prison actors. No theatre is trivial with these actors. The great themes of Godot, waiting (forced, one might say), the impossibility of leaving, repetition in language, in gestures, in action, otherness, laughter. From the very first readings, the actors were able to find the entrance to this monument of contemporary theatre." Enzo Verdet

Interview with Enzo Verdet