For its sixth edition, Les Belles Heures invites you to the heart of the Festival d'Avignon to discover and celebrate contemporary theatre. Organised in collaboration with the Festival d'Avignon, the Maison Jean Vilar and numerous partners, this event offers a free-form and original programme bringing together some fifty playwrights. Readings, talks, performances, writing workshops, original productions, a banquet and cabaret: for two days, words flow, reinvent themselves and are shared, in step with the rhythm of the festival.

Friday, July 10

A Journey Through Espaces 34
Performed reading by Stanislas Nordey
11:00 AM – Calade – Free admission

Stanislas Nordey pays tribute to the essential work of Sabine Chevallier, founder of Éditions Espaces 34, by giving voice to a selection of emblematic or lesser-known texts from its catalog.

Gosses du béton by Thibault Galis
Reading, as part of Rainbow Day & Night – La Magnanerie – Le Train bleu
11:00 AM – Studio – Ages 16+ Free reservation required

An initiatory play, Gosses du béton explores the city through the eyes of three queer protagonists: Olga, Nathan, and Paolo. From the warmth of clubs to the apartments of upscale neighborhoods, they dream of a better future—filled with love, desire, and above all, freedom.

Written and voiced by Thibaut Galis, winner of the ARTCENA National Grant for Playwriting
Performed by Naëlle Dariya, Adil Mekki, Eli Roy Sound design Ariane Blaise Coproduced by Compagnie Sur nos lèvres, Étoile du Nord Partners Mains d’Œuvres Supported by ARTCENA, Théâtre Ouvert, Jerk Off, Rainbow Day & Night – Festival organized by Théâtre du Train Bleu and La Magnanerie

Le Partage de midi
12:00 PM – Calade – Free admission

A moment of encounter with Baptiste Amann, hosted by Fabienne Pascaud.

In partnership with Télérama

Creative Archives
Writing Workshop with Léonore Confino
2:30 PM – BnF Reading Room – Free reservation required

A creative session led by author Léonore Confino, echoing the BnF exhibition "Que le spectacle commence ! L’aventure du théâtre jeune public au Festival Off d’Avignon". The workshop invites participants to rediscover the unique perspective and language of childhood—naïve in appearance but often strikingly accurate, capable of revealing the absurdity of the adult world.

In partnership with the BnF

Listening to Theatre
A Conversation About Audiobooks from Actes Sud
2:30 PM – Vaulted Room – Free reservation required

Audiobook theatre is an innovation in the world of audio, opening new paths to theatre and reading. It is a unique creation, with carefully chosen interpreters, aiming to serve the text while approaching the process of inner reading. This event invites you to learn how to listen, featuring excerpts from two audiobooks: "Tous des oiseaux" by Wajdi Mouawad and "Les Cinq sens" by Rémi De Vos (Actes Sud Audio).

Conversation with Gwénola David and Blandine Masson (director of audio theatre books and former director of fiction at France Culture), and other special guests.

Fruit d’un arbre by Kouam Tawa
Literary and sound performance
2:00 PM – Salon de la Mouette – Free reservation required

The son of a dictator, once destined for power, finds himself imprisoned after daring to ask for a relaxation of the regime. In isolation, he revisits his fall: his discovery of the people through social media, his political awakening, and his father’s brutal punishment. Against the backdrop of Cameroon, ruled for decades by Paul Biya, Kouam Tawa’s text reveals the fragility of an heir crushed by the machinery of power.

Text Kouam Tawa (winner of the ARTCENA Grant for Dramatic Text Creation) Performed by Kouam Tawa, Vîrus, Iurii Kuznetsov Dramaturgs Lola Molina and Lélio Plotton Sound design Iurii Kuznetsov Produced by Compagnie Léla, Théâtre de Poche Européen, Bourges European Capital of Culture 2028

Mystery Readings
3:00 PM – Meeting point in the Hall – Free reservation required

Do you have a taste for adventure? Book a mystery reading! Let yourself be guided to an unusual location in the Maison Jean Vilar to attend an excerpt from a play whose title will only be revealed at the end… and which you can discover in full at the Off Festival!

In partnership with AF&C/Festival Off Avignon and the BnF

First Steps on Stage
4:00 PM – Salon de la Mouette – Duration: 2 hours – Ages 8+ – Free reservation required

Experience the first public readings of newly written or translated texts! These plays will soon be staged by artistic teams eager to share them now. These readings are open to curious audiences and professionals looking to discover promising future productions, followed by a discussion with the artistic team.

Featuring Baptiste Amann, Héloïse Desrivières, Nicolas Girard-Michellotti, Fabrice Melquiot, and Catherine Verlaguet In partnership with Le Totem, Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national, Art – Enfance – Jeunesse

Lear for Real by Claudine Galea
4:00 PM – Studio – Free reservation required

Originally, Lear for Real was a commission from ARTCENA and France Culture, inviting Claudine Galea to write a 30-minute radio fiction based on a Shakespearean character. She chose Lear, her favorite play. Quickly, the text outgrew the commission: personal resonances, the figure of a man placed in a nursing home, his endless calls—absurd, moving, and funny/comic—crept in. Then, the initial text expanded, restructured, and made room for Lear’s daughter, Cordelia. What was meant to be a one-off contribution became a full play. This is the play we present this summer

Voiced by Sophie Lahayville Sound design Quentin Bonami Performed by Laurent Ziserman, Sophie Lahayville Produced by Les Femmes Sauvages In parternship with ARTCENA et La Comédie - Centre dramatique national de Reims
Nos constellations
Collective and performative piece
6:00 PM – La Calade – Free admission

Based on contemporary theatrical texts from research conducted with ARTCENA, Nos Constellations offers a performance reading open to multiple interpretations, driven by the energy, intuition, singularity, and sensitivity of young artists from the École Supérieure de Théâtre de l’Union. Conceived as a laboratory of play and research, Nos Constellations resonates with contemporary writings in full vitality. Explorations, questions, the musicality of language, and the plasticity of construction—this form questions the students’ relationship with theatrical writing. Who reads, and for whom? Are their voices heard? Are all texts suited to all voices? And how does this fit into a theatrical heritage? Guided by Aurélie Van Den Daele and Joris Rodriguez, and performed by students from Sequence 12 of the École Supérieure de Théâtre de l’Union, this piece gives voice to writings in motion.

Voiced by Aurélie Van Den Daele, assisted by Joris Rodriguez Performed by Ebbane Augé-Visa, Émile Balagayrie, Louna Baylacq, Simon Bourachaud, Zoé de Barbarin, Tao Dersoir, Mattéo Duval, Jérémie Clément Foy Pallud, Léo Gervy, Loïc M’Bora, Isaure Marigno, Rose Ruysschaert, Havaiki Tauira, and Saraïsa Vola In partnership with École Supérieure de Théâtre de l’Union and Le Théâtre de l’Union – Centre dramatique national du Limousin

The Banquet of Authors
8:00 PM – La Calade – Invitation only

Cocktail dinner. ARTCENA invites authors and professionals to a convivial and festive moment: a chance to exchange, meet, and build connections over a drink.

In partnership with SACD

Cabaret: Surprise Interrogation
10:00 PM – La Calade – Free admission

Echoing the 80th edition of the Festival d'Avignon—placed under the sign of questions—this cabaret, blending music and reading, explores what questions make possible. For this cabaret, four authors write from this starting point: a punctuation, a departure point that opens, creates tension, and lets the narrative search, hesitate, resolve—or not, and question further. Alongside them, musician Sébastien Martel, whose music extends, shifts, and relaunches these stories… And if, deep down, the answer is simply this: a powerful desire to come together.

Featuring Martin Bellemare, Léonore Confino, Solenn Denis, and Nicolas Girard-Michelotti

Saturday, July 11

From the Publishers’ Side
11:00 AM – Salon de La Mouette – Free reservation required

Discover three recently published texts, revealed by student-actors from ERACM in residency at La Criée. These exclusive readings are followed by a meeting with the authors, publishers, and a book-signing session, moderated by Gwénola David.

Warda [Testament d'un poisson] by Esteban Okbi, Komos Structura / Les éditions Komos
L’Enclos by Sabine Tamisier, éditions Théâtrales
FOOTBALLEUR, Ce qui va m’arriver est en moi by Simon Diard, éditions petits pièges

Voiced by Maurin Ollès Performed by Thessaleïa Degremont, Madeleine Delauna, Maurin Ollès In partnership with Komos Structura, Théâtrales, petits pièges and La Criée - Théâtre national de Marseille, École régionale d’acteurs de Cannes et Marseille

Contxto
11:00 AM – Studio – Free reservation required

A highlight of the international network dedicated to the translation and dissemination of Francophone dramatic texts, Contxto invites you to a conversation about the journey of texts, translation, and how writings meet other stages and audiences. A time for dialogue to share experiences and perspectives.

Featuring Éva Doumbia, Gurshad Shaheman, Fabrice Melquiot In partnership with Institut français and SACD

Nos constellations
Collective and performative piece
11:00 AM – La Calade – Free admission

Based on contemporary theatrical texts from research conducted with ARTCENA, Nos Constellations offers a performance reading open to multiple interpretations, driven by the energy, intuition, singularity, and sensitivity of young artists from the École Supérieure de Théâtre de l’Union. Conceived as a laboratory of play and research, Nos Constellations resonates with contemporary writings in full vitality. Explorations, questions, the musicality of language, and the plasticity of construction—this form questions the students’ relationship with theatrical writing. Who reads, and for whom? Are their voices heard? Are all texts suited to all voices? And how does this fit into a theatrical heritage? Guided by Aurélie Van Den Daele and Joris Rodriguez, and performed by students from Sequence 12 of the École Supérieure de Théâtre de l’Union, this piece gives voice to writings in motion.

Voiced by Aurélie Van Den Daele, assisted by Joris Rodriguez Performed by Ebbane Augé-Visa, Émile Balagayrie, Louna Baylacq, Simon Bourachaud, Zoé de Barbarin, Tao Dersoir, Mattéo Duval, Jérémie Clément Foy Pallud, Léo Gervy, Loïc M’Bora, Isaure Marigno, Rose Ruysschaert, Havaiki Tauira, and Saraïsa Vola In partnership with École Supérieure de Théâtre de l’Union and Le Théâtre de l’Union – Centre dramatique national du Limousin

Le Partage de midi
12:00 PM – La Calade – Free admission

A meeting with the authors of La Récolte N°8 on the occasion of its release: Elise Blaché, Olivia Csiky Trnka, Simon Grangeat, Nicolas Girard-Michelotti, Éric Maniengui, Ludovic Longelin, Galla Naccache-Gauthier, Julie Tirard (translator of Sivan Ben Yishai), Federica Martucci (translator of Nalini Vidoolah Mootoosamy).

Moderated by Matthieu Mével In partnership with La Récolte – Revue des comités de lecture de théâtre

Fruit d’un arbre by Kouam Tawa
Literary and sound performance
2:00 PM – Salon de la Mouette – Free reservation required

The son of a dictator, once destined for power, finds himself imprisoned after daring to ask for a relaxation of the regime. In isolation, he revisits his fall: his discovery of the people through social media, his political awakening, and his father’s brutal punishment. Against the backdrop of Cameroon, ruled for decades by Paul Biya, Kouam Tawa’s text reveals the fragility of an heir crushed by the machinery of power.

Text Kouam Tawa (winner of the ARTCENA Grant for Dramatic Text Creation) Performed by Kouam Tawa, Vîrus, Iurii Kuznetsov Dramaturgs Lola Molina and Lélio Plotton Sound design Iurii Kuznetsov Produced by Compagnie Léla, Théâtre de Poche Européen, Bourges European Capital of Culture 2028

How to Write for Radio? A Conversation About Audio Fiction
3:00 PM – Studio – Free reservation required

Audio fiction is one of France Culture’s specialties. Beloved by listeners, it occupies a central place in its public service mission by supporting creation and new writing. Through its fictions, radio becomes a territory of experimentation where authors, directors, actors, sound creators, and musicians meet. This roundtable explores this living space—a theatre of the imagination and emotions, sharing stories and narratives capable of bringing people together. How is an audio fiction made? What does sound allow in terms of boldness, invention, and play? How does this dramaturgy influence writing from the start?

Featuring Lola Molina and Fabrice Melquiot (authors), Sophie-Aude Picon and Mélanie Péclat (directors of the Fictions week, recorded live at the Calvet Museum as part of the Avignon Festival) Moderated by Marie Sorbier, producer of Le Point Culture on France Culture In partnership with France Culture

The Stolen Poverty by Pak Wan-seo (박완서)
4:30 PM – Studio – Duration: 45 min – Free reservation required

In 1970s Seoul, a young factory worker lives, like so many others, in poverty. Hardworking and determined, she dreams of a better life and waits for Sang-hun, her partner in misfortune, to declare his love. But one day, Sang-hun commits an incomprehensible act… A biting yet unexpectedly tender story. Pak Wan-seo (1931–2011), a author who deeply transformed the landscape of Korean literature, gave voice to the women of a country marked by war, precarity, and rapid industrialization. She is best known for her autobiographical novels (The Naked Tree; My Mother’s Stake; Outside the Walls; Memory of a Mountain), in which, like Marguerite Duras in her Indochinese cycle, the novelist revisits her impoverished childhood with an authoritarian, widowed mother. The Stolen Poverty, which encapsulates Pak Wan-seo’s universe, is presented for the first time in France as a monologue.

French translation Lee Hwa-yeal (이화열) and Isabelle Fauvel Read by Lee Hwa-yeal (이화열) and Isabelle Fauvel Performed by Pauline Bolcatto Supported by LTI Korea (Literature Translation Institute of Korea) With the support of the Korean Cultural Center and Compagnie C’est dans la boîte !

La Couleur jaune a le goût de l’enfance by Hugo Fréjabise
Reading, ages 8+ 4:30 PM – Salon de la Mouette – Free reservation required

Lou and her grandfather Léo embark on a journey to Morocco, retracing Léo’s childhood. Their goal: to find the house he was forced to leave long ago, and perhaps catch a glimpse of elephants crossing frozen lakes—because, according to Léo, it’s all a matter of trust.

Directed by Marie Levavasseur Supported by FABLAB Théâtral d’ARTCENA Coproduced by Les Tréteaux de France, CDN (Aubervilliers), La Minoterie - scène conventionnée (Dijon), Compagnie les Oyates

MUM by Joey Elmaleh
Performed reading, as part of the Effractions proposed by Komos Structura
5:00 PM – Vaulted Room – Free reservation required
Nelly is a devoted mother, a passionate lover, a battered woman, consumed by illness, an actress, a Queen of the Night, a witch. But today, Nelly is dead. So, as evening falls, her son Joey comes to wait for her at the theatre. They meet on stage. Him, the survivor. And her, his ghost. Together, they sketch a strange pas de deux. A secret little ritual between a mother who is no more and the child who seeks her. A celebration as unique and incandescent as their love.

Featuring Marie Bos and Joey Elmaleh Read by Jean-Gabriel Vidal-Vandroy Coproduced by Théâtre Ouvert Text winner of the ARTCENA Grant for Dramatic Creation and the EAT Prize To be published by Komos in 2027 In partnership with Komos Structura This performed reading is a prelude to the Effractions, which will take place in July 2027—a biennial event during the Avignon Festival, featuring performed readings by published and emerging playwrights. Co-produced with the OARA – Office artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with support from ALCA – Agence Livre, Cinéma & Audiovisuel en Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Hélène des Ligneris – La Machine à Lire, Bordeaux

Focus Québec: Corps de verre trempé by Julien-Claude Charlebois
Reading followed by a discussion with the author
6:00 PM – La Calade – Free admission

A city center where nothing ever happens. Between workout sessions at dinnertime, office meetings, family dinners, returns from vacation, and condo visits, professionals see the varnish of their lives crack, as a hurricane forms on the other side of the world. And it grows. And it spreads. Will it reach here? Outside, it seems the wind is blowing a little harder than usual. A time to discover and share the voices of contemporary Quebec.

Featuring second-year students from the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal In partnership with Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) and Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal (CADM) Supported by Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Conseil des arts du Canada

Free Exploration

Discovery formats to explore contemporary dramatic writing in new ways:

AUTHORS’ SELF-PORTRAITS – HALL Winners of the ARTCENA National Grant for Dramatic Text Creation share short video self-portraits revealing their creative universes.
FIRST LISTENS – CALADE Comfortably seated in a deck chair, discover texts from the latest ARTCENA Grant for Creation winners in podcast form.
FRANCE CULTURE FICTIONS – CALADE Comfortably seated in a deck chair, discover France Culture’s radio fictions.

OFF-SITE

KiLLT – Oiseau (Guide de survie) by Marie-Christine Le Hûu
July 10 & 11 – 12:30 PM, 2:00 PM, 3:30 PM, 5:00 PM
Université d'Avignon – 74 Rue Louis Pasteur Ages 10+ – Free reservation required

A collective incitement to read aloud.

Oiseau has disappeared. What if words could guide us to him? In KiLLT – Oiseau (Survival Guide), a small group of spectators and an actor share aloud the story of Oiseau, a child who vanished from his school. The police investigate, his parents search for him, and everyone realizes they don’t really know him. At school, they say he’s strange, that he talks to birds. At home, his parents argue, and worry grows. So, to find him, words might be the key—to finally take the time to understand.

Text Marie-Christine Lê-Huu Directed by Guillaume Fafiotte and Jonathan Salmon Textual scenography Mélody Champagne & Cerise Guyon Artistic collaborator Camille Laouénan Sound universe Antoine Prost Performing team (rotating) Henri Ardisson, Garance Courtial, Clarisse Ensenat, Guillaume Fafiotte, Jonathan Salmon With the complicity of Olivier Letellier Original concept Olivier Letellier and Camille Laouénanseille, and the Regional Acting School of Cannes and Marseille

80e Festival d'Avignon 4 to 25 July 2026

80^e Festival d'Avignon 4 to 25 July 2026