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 10 July
Le Partage de midi
12 noon – Calade
A chance to meet a guest author, hosted by Fabienne Pascaud.
In partnership with Télérama
Mystery readings
11:30am - 2:30pm – 4pm – 6pm – Meeting point in the Hall
Fancy an adventure? Sign up for a mystery reading! Let yourself be guided to an unusual spot in the Maison Jean Vilar to watch an excerpt from a play whose title will only be revealed at the end… and which you can discover in full at the Festival Off!
In partnership with AF&C/Festival Off Avignon and the BnF
First Steps on Stage
4pm – Salon de la Mouette – Duration 2 hours
Ages 8 and up
Experience the first public performance of a new text! Recently written or translated, these texts will soon be staged by artistic teams keen to share them with you now. These readings are aimed at both curious members of the public and professionals keen to spot promising future productions, and are followed by a discussion with the artistic team.
With Catherine Verlaguet, Nicolas Girard-Michellotti, Baptiste Amann, Héloïse Desrivières, Fabrice Melquiot
In partnership with Le Totem, a state-subsidised theatre of national interest, Art – Children – Youth.
Saturday 11 July
From the publishers’ perspective
11am – Salon de La Mouette
Discover three recently published texts on stage, brought to life by ERACM drama students currently training at La Criée. These exclusive readings will be followed by a discussion with the authors and publishers, moderated by Gwénola David, and a book signing session.
Warda [Testament d’un poisson], Esteban Okbi
Direction Maurin Ollès
With Thessaleïa Degremont, Madeleine Delauna, Maurin Ollès
In partnership with the publishing houses Actes Sud-Papiers, Komos Structura, Théâtrales, and La Criée – Théâtre national de Marseille, and the Regional Acting School of Cannes and Marseille
Production
In partnership with AF&C/festival Off Avignon, BnF, CEAD - Centre des auteurs dramatiques du Québec, Le Conservatoire de Montréal, Comédie - Centre dramatique national de Reims, La Criée - Théâtre national de Marseille, l’École Supérieure de Théâtre de l'Union, l’ERACM, France Culture, Institut français, La Magnanerie, La Récolte – Revue des comités de lectures de théâtre, LTI Korea, Radio Radio, SACD, Scènes d’enfance-Assitej France, Théâtre de Poche Européen – compagnie Léla, Théâtre du Train bleu, Le Théâtre de l'Union – Centre dramatique national du Limousin, le Totem – Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national art, enfance, jeunesse, les Tréteaux de France - Centre dramatique national, et les maisons d’éditions Espace 34, Théâtrales, Komos Structura, et Actes Sud-papiers.