The Maison du Peuple theater closed its season on Friday May 24 with a revisit of Robin Hood. The opportunity to unveil next season’s program and take stock of the past year.
Friday May 24, at the end of the evening, at the exit of the Maison du peuple theater, the revisitation of Robin des Bois by the Grand Cerfbleu collective left no one indifferent, for the last of the 2023-2024 season. The last one accompanied by several activities such as an introduction to archery on the terrace, followed by a musical set and catering. And for director Stéphane Chatelard to unveil the next program to some 315 spectators. It is also an opportunity to take stock of this last financial year.
How did this rich last evening go, where the audience was particularly trapped by the staging of the show?
It was a great end to the season. The pre-show worked very well with people from these early evening meetings. Obviously for the show, I had been taken into confidence but the audience completely plunged. This is also what is alive, the central theme of our season. We leave room for citizens rather than those who have power and who don’t do much with it.
And what is your assessment of the season as a whole?
She was great too. I have been the director of the theater for 12 years and I have never seen so many spectators. The figures still need to be refined but we are between 35,000 and 38,000 spectators, with more people than usual on our paid programming and with a new audience. 60% of them are from Millau, 11% from Com’com, 25% from the department and 4% from beyond. We can also be proud of 800 subscribers with three to four shows per year.
How do you explain this beautiful dynamic?
First there is the leverage effect of the French song festival which attracts a large audience and which returns after the festival. We have also responded to many calls for projects to integrate different audiences into the cultural process. Finally, school attendance is 100% of what we had planned. Obviously, the driving artists helped a lot and taking risks is never a foregone conclusion. In a few figures, there are 38 shows for the general public for 44 performances, 11 for schools for 30 performances and 16 escapades, which makes on average around a hundred curtain raisers per year, one every three days.
The program was revealed that evening. What do you propose ?
We must not fall asleep and bring new ideas. We have to confront other generations and the artists do this well for us. For the Givrés, the phosphore collective and the programming, which is being completed, will be revealed in the fall. There are headliners like Jean-Marc Barr, Ariane Ascaride or comedian Aymeric Lompret, then more atypical projects like the circus artists from Yé (water). The central theme is elsewhere because many projects come from elsewhere, which also allows us to realize what we have here, with incredible artists and creations. We are opening online ticketing from June 11 so people can get organized quickly, we have had quite a few sellouts this season. And they will always be the same prices.
And a 2024-2025 season which begins later…
Yes, October 4 in two parts with “Grégory” By Collectif and a pocket piece by (La) Rue Serendip. We realize that people prefer to be outside in the summer and the festivities planned for the 20th anniversary of the viaduct encourage us to free September. On the other hand, we are strengthening our programming for winter. Above all, we want to generate the same interest among the public to stabilize the structure with 11 full-time equivalents. Without the public, we don’t exist.
Beyond the curtain rising on October 4, meet a week later with the Quator Hermès, “Our years” in the Compagnie des Barbares for the first escapades to Sévérac-d’Aveyron, Saint-Rome-de-Tarn and Nant from November 8 to 11; “the blue men” of the Faux Magnifico Company and Jean-Marc Barr on November 11; “Now that I know” by Tréteaux de France from November 20 to 23; “It’s winter, the sky is blue” with the Void Company on November 28; “Imperfecto” by Cie BurnOut with Jann Gallois on December 6; “Gisèle Halimi, a fierce freedom” on December 13 with Ariane Ascaride. Before the fourth edition of Les Givrées from January 17 to 25, see you on January 11 for “The Flea in the Ear after Georges Feydeau” from the Drama Club.
The season will close on May 23 with “Phoenix” by the Käfig Company and Mourad Merzouki.
