How is the Avignon festival going?
LT site • June 19, 2023
During the Avignon Festival, the city transforms into a gigantic open-air performance stage. This is the opportunity to discover the original but successful alliance of a popular audience with international creativity . Festival-goers come for a month to present their shows but also share their experience with the spectators who come to discover them!
The program is made up of diverse and varied shows, readings, exhibitions, films and debates... It is an open door to contemporary and living culture , highlighted by invited artists and intellectuals.
“Giving back to the theater, to collective art, a place other than behind closed doors; reconcile architecture and dramatic poetry”: these were the words of Jean Vilar, founder of the festival.
The Avignon Festival in a few figures
So that you can have a better overview of what the Avignon Festival in France and on the international scene, here is the numerical description of each edition:
- Around forty different shows , French and foreign, with 300 performances and more than 400 meetings (debates, screenings, meetings),
- 80% of the shows
are creations or premieres in France,
- Each edition has a program that revolves around
meetings with artists,
moments of debate, with philosophers, researchers, activists, readings of unpublished texts, film screenings, exhibitions.... The festival is thought of as a “festival of thought and discovery”,
- More than twenty places have been transformed : heritage and open-air spaces, scenic spaces, with a variable number of seats (from 50 to 200),
- 125,000 tickets for paid shows and 30,000 free entries,
- More than 600 journalists gathered, French and foreign, wrote more than 2,000 articles on the Avignon Festival,
- The Festival and the Institut Supérieur des Techniques du Spectacles organize a House of Performing Arts Professionals. Debates and meetings are organized there to broaden the points of view and areas of research of the profession! It is an important moment of exchange in
European cultural life.
- 60,000 programs are published.
In 2021, a reduction of 2 tonnes of paper printing was possible thanks to the policy put in place on this subject.
- 4 million pages viewed each year on the website dedicated to the Avignon Festival. An app was launched in 2019, with over 25,000 downloads in 2022.
- The budget was
17 million euros in 2022, 71% of which goes to programming, production, co-production and cultural action activities.
- Long-lasting relationships
have been established with patrons such as the Crédit Coopératif Foundation. A circle of partner companies has been set up and brings together around fifteen small and medium-sized companies. The same goes for the circle of individual patrons!
- The economic impact on the regional basin is estimated at 50 million euros.
The Avignon Festival, for a month, gives rise to unique moments of life and sharing since 1947. Thanks to the desire, courage and passion of all the artists and other professionals who continue to believe in it, numerous shows take place every year on the city's various stages.
Whether open-air or not, it is a privileged place where the heart and the mind truly meet. Let yourself be carried away by the artistic and creative atmosphere that emerges and take the opportunity to discover the program planned for the 2023 edition at the Laurette Théâtre!
Between the history of Molière and popular traditions, discover why green bears woe in the world of theater. Cursed superstition or color?
Avignon the off 2025
The Laurette Théâtre is back for the legendary Avignon Off Festival for its 59th Edition with a rich program!
Discover everything you need to know about the Avignon 2025 festival: dates & reservation of places at Laurette Théâtre to enjoy this event!
Provence, its irresistible charm, the sun and the Avignon festival, so many reasons to come and stay in the theater capital
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. Voice assistants in our phones algorithms who recommend films, she is gradually inviting herself into our daily lives. For some, it is synonymous with innovation and progress. For others, it arouses concerns, especially on its impact on employment, creativity or even human relationships. This technological revolution, which upsets our relationship to the world, could therefore only inspire the theater, an art that feeds on the air to question our society. When AI invites itself on stage ... But not as one imagines one might think that AI in the theater means robots on stage or dialogues entirely generated by algorithms. However, it is not from this angle that the authors and directors take hold of it. Artificial intelligence becomes above all a source of inspiration for the world of spectacle, a pretext to explore universal themes such as communication, intergenerational conflicts and the place of human in a changing world. The theater, as a mirror of our contemporary concerns, is less interested in technological prowess than in the upheavals that they provoke in our lives. The stories that result from it are often tinged with humor and reflection, because behind the supposed coldness of the machines hide very human questions. Does artificial intelligence, a subject of captivating spectacle for the public why does artificial intelligence make such a good subject of show? First, because it is at the heart of the news. We talk about it in the media, we debate in the cafes, and everyone has their opinion on the issue. It is a theme that challenges and affects all generations, because it raises deep questions about our future. Then, AI is an excellent narrative lever to confront different visions of the world. One of the major tensions around this technology lies in the discrepancy between those who naturally adopt it and those who look at it with skepticism. This generational shock is a gold mine for playwrights, which can draw funny and touching situations. Finally, artificial intelligence in the theater makes it possible to open debates, without being too didactic. Through a comedy, a drama or a satirical piece, she pushes the spectator to ask questions without him having the impression of attending a conference. It is this subtle balance between entertainment and reflection that makes these shows so relevant. "Ados.com: Artificial Intelligence", a generational comedy not to miss a perfect example of the way in which AI can be exploited in the theater is the new play "Ados.com: Artificial Intelligence", carried by Crazy. This show stages Kevin and his mother, already known to the public thanks to the success of Ados.com. In this new adventure, they find themselves faced with new daily situations: becoming a rapper, managing homework, learning to drive ... But above all, they must deal with new technologies that invade their daily lives. If the title refers to AI, it is not so much to talk about robots as to illustrate the misunderstandings between generations. Artificial intelligence becomes a common thread here to approach universal themes with humor: how do young people perceive technology? Why do parents sometimes find it difficult to keep pace? And above all, can we still understand each other in the digital age? Directed by Jean-Baptiste Mazoyer, and interpreted by Seb Mattia and Isabelle Viranin, the show plays on the contrast between the mother, overwhelmed by new digital uses, and her son, completely immersed in this connected world. Between misunderstandings and tasty dialogues, the play promises bursts of laughter and a beautiful dose of reflection on our relationship to technology. AI and theater, a promising duo. A show on artificial intelligence can be an exciting subject to approach, not so much for its technological feat as for the questions it arouses. Through shows like "Ados.com: artificial intelligence", it becomes a way to talk about our time, our doubts and our hopes. Between laughter and awareness, these pieces remind us that, despite the omnipresence of machines, it is always the human who tells the best stories.
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