However, it was 30 years ago, on November 9, 1994, that the Théâtre Le Public opened its doors to spectators for the first time, rue Braemt, in the heart of Saint-Josse. At the time, “we were very naive”remembers Patricia Ide. “I didn’t envision myself in three theaters with so many spectators. It was just an incredible opportunity to have found the venue (the former Aerts breweries, Editor’s note) as well as human and financial resources.” The two co-directors, however, have a very specific objective in mind: “make theater as freely as possible”car “It seemed to us, and this is still the case today, that the profession of actor and actress in French-speaking Belgium is very difficult to live freely if you do not have the management of a theater”explains Michel Kacenelenbogen. “The Public therefore opened up in the name of the freedom of actors and actresses.” That’s why, “we immediately increased the number of performances”continues Patricia Ide. “From the first show, we played 60 times, which was completely heterogeneous in the business.”
From the Aerts brasseries to the Théâtre le Public
A new addition to the theatrical landscape of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Le Public quickly found its audience and its artists, but “we took on a gigantic adversity from the sector, as well as from the press and the administration of Culture, because we opened with our own funds”recalls the co-director. “But, looking back and with some scars, this adversity has strengthened us.” Likewise, “we opened with directors who were not specifically aimed at the general publicadds Patricia Ide. We had cutting-edge directors, but at the service of popular theater. We could have opened with cabarets, comedies and vaudeville. We didn’t do it. And we were right because it brought a lot of artists into the house and we weren’t locked into a box.”. From the start, Le Public has endeavored to offer quality, varied and accessible programming, coupled with meticulous mediation work. Immigration, excision, homosexuality, Armenian genocide, domestic and intra-family violence… are all sensitive subjects which have found their place in the Public. “This is also why we opened the two small roomscontinues the co-director. Not to try to become as big as a whale, but because it allowed us to speak to the general public about delicate themes without hiding anything. The idea is not to play politics in the theater, but to open the debate”.
From Marivaux, Musset, Molière, Brecht, Goldoni, Chekhov… to Philippe Blasband, Claude Semal, Thierry Debroux, Dario Fo, Alessandro Baricco, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Pietro Pizzuti, Amélie Nothomb, Yasmina Reza, Geneviève Damas, Jean-Claude Grumberg … via Alexis Michalik, Fab Caro, Sébastien Thiéry, Sam Touzani, Bruno Coppens…, Le Public has performed, in 30 years, more than 360 authors, including 161 Belgians, directed by 110 directors (Thierry Salmon, Serge Rangoni, Pierre Laroche, Carlo Boso, Christine Delmotte, Michel Kacenelenbogen, Philippe Sireuil, Véronique Dumont, Éric De Staercke…). In total, 495 shows (including 328 creations) were presented to more than 2.6 million spectators.
“Of course, we had failures, a good dozen, deserved and undeservedsmiles Michel Kacenelenbogen. Creating a show is not that simple. Sometimes it fails. But, one thing is certain: the public never comes here not to like it. In 30 years, I have perhaps received 50 or 60 unpleasant letters.”. “We don’t buy applausehe adds, moved. It’s something pure, extraordinary. Aside from acting and directing, I love standing at the box office, near the chandelier, to watch the spectators enter and I love sitting on a baffle, at the back of a set, to listen the actors perform in front of the public”.
→ For its 30th anniversary, Le Public is publishing two books, available from November 8 at the theater bookstore, at the price of 20 euros: 1° “Le Public, 30 years of wicked pleasure – Stories to share” is a collection of texts from collaborators. This volume presents itself as a look in the rearview mirror, a return to basics and compiles some anecdotes. 2° “The Public, 30 years of theater” brings together the 495 shows presented in 30 seasons in chronological order and includes several figures illustrated by Pierre Kroll
→ All the information on www.theatrelepublic.be
From the Aerts brasseries to the Théâtre Le Public
In 1983, Michel Kacenelenbogen and Patricia Ide, young actors and directors, promised to open a theater within ten years. They need money, so Michel Kacenelenbogen creates a communications company. A few years later, “this journey had made me credible enough, not to buy the theater because I was not rich enough, but to borrow”he remembers. “In fact, looking back, it was crazy because we put everything we had up as collateral.” Luc D’Haenens, a scenographer and architect friend, is tasked with finding a place in Brussels that could become a theater: it will be the former Aerts breweries, rue Braemt, in Saint-Josse. The vat room will be the first and has been transformed into the current large room with 300 seats. “At the time, as we didn’t have enough money to finance the work, it was friends who came to help us break the tiles. I have a memory of tapping tiles for three days. I was 34.”
Couple on stage and in the city
“I don’t think I would have opened a theater if Patricia [Ide] hadn’t been there”confides Michel Kacenelenbogen. “Me neither !”assures his most faithful partner, on stage and in the city. “This two-headed direction means that Le Public has always worked on the crest line between Harlequin, valet of two masters (of Carlo Goldoni) and Cat skins (by Alain Cofino Gomez), between Philippe Blasband and Molière, between Jean-Marie Piemme and Ivan Turgenev, etc.explains Patricia Ide. As we work as a duo, there is less uniformity in programming choices. There is also great attention to parity and colors.”. And Michel Kacenelenbogen adds: “For 30 years, there has not been a piece that has been programmed without both of us agreeing.”.
The opening of November 9, 1994
“What’s crazy about this adventure is that we signed the deed of sale on December 31, 1993 and that we opened the theater to spectators nine months later, on November 9, 1994, with Harlequin polished by love et The double inconstancy de Marivaux, under the artistic direction of Jacques Delcuvellerie”says, laughing, Michel Kacenelenbogen. “You can’t make this up!”exclaims Patricia Ide. “We then have an average of 120-130 spectators (in the large 300-seat room, Editor’s note)but we play 70 times”welcomes the co-director. Since then, more than 900 actors and actresses have graced the stages of the Public, many of whom have made theater history: Jacqueline Bir, Janine Godinas, Alain Leempoel, Guy Pion, Bernard Cogniaux, Marie-Paule Kumps, Itsik Elbaz, Valérie Lemaître , Antoine Guillaume, Tania Garbarski, Magali Pinglaut, Pietro Pizzuti, Anne Sylvain…
“Le Tartuffe”, 70th production
In 1997, Michel Kacenelenbogen signed his first production with Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? d’Edward Albee. “Without false modesty, it is the first big success of the Théâtre Le Public, which was repeated and which, even today, is among the top 15 in terms of number of spectators.”he notes. Two other shows also left an artistic mark on him: seasideby Véronique Olmi, with Magali Pinglaut because, “in a theater of incredible unradicality, this is undoubtedly what I did most radically, that is to say the need to say things, no matter who can support it” as well as Cabaret the John Van Druten, parce que “it was for the 20th anniversary of the Public and it’s the film Cabaret which motivated me to open a theater, because, during the era of fascism, it depicted the difficulty of existing in artistic freedom and the right to be different”. Finally, currently on display, The Tarfuffe by Molière, his 70th production, is “one of my most beautiful theatrical adventures, because it involves new actors as well as many people who have been very important to me for 30 years.”
A new theater in Uccle
This has been a Public project for some time now: opening a second theater at St-Pierre square in Uccle. The reason is twofold: 1°”Although Le Public is fuller than ever, the number of spectators coming from the south of Brussels has decreased by 80%.observe Michel Kacenelenbogen. 2°”We want to increase artistic employment.” Funded to the tune of 7 million euros, this new venue will include two performance halls (300 and 150 seats), two rehearsal rooms, a restaurant, etc. “Work is expected to start in February 2025, with an opening planned for the 2026-2027 season.”
