Re-Situating Public Theatre in Contemporary France

Book excerpt: This book examines the dynamics of the relational and spatial politics of contemporary French theatrical production, with a focus on four theatres in the Greater Paris region. It situates these dynamics within the intersection of the histories of the public theatre and theatre decentralization in France, and the dialogues between live performances and the larger frameworks of artistic direction and programming as well as various imaginations of the “public”. Understanding these phenomena, as well as the politics that underscore them, is key to understanding not only the present status of the public theatre in France, but also how theatre as a publicly funded institution interacts with the notion of the plurality, rather than the homogeneity, of its publics.