“It’s about continuing the European dimension by opening a space to a new generation of creators”

Just installed in the directorial office of the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe, where he took up his duties on July 15, at the age of 37, Julien Gosselin is still in the works. He details his plans for the second public theater institution in France, prestigious but in budgetary difficulty.

For a long time, you said you didn’t want to run an institution. What ultimately made you decide to position yourself to take the helm of the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe?

It was often said that I refused the institution, like other creators of my generation – Caroline Guiela Nguyen [qui est aujourd’hui directrice du Théâtre national de Strasbourg]Sylvain Creuzevault… –, but that is not entirely true. It’s more that, for a long time, it was not offered to us. And so we didn’t think about it because we weren’t told about it. Then the Ministry of Culture suggested that I think about the Odéon, and I told myself that it was the craziest challenge I could attempt, and that it was worth trying. Because I love this house, where I have performed most of my shows, because I have the impression that we can make it a great European theater, and because I have achieved what we can call a form of maturity to be at the head of a machine like this.

What does the Odéon mean to you?

The fundamental aspect for me is the identity of the Odéon as a theater of Europe. I thought I could bring experience gleaned over the years, because I have toured and worked abroad a lot [à la Volksbühne de Berlin ou à l’Internationaal Theater d’Amsterdam, entre autres]. I was thus able to see the creations of a number of young European artists whose work we do not know in France, and whom I would like to discover. This is the focus of my project. I believe in the idea that major European institutions can be centers for contemporary creation, where we take risks, where we offer radical and demanding shows.

The European dimension is part of the Odéon’s DNA, and was respected by your predecessors. Where can you differentiate yourself from the work that has already been done?

This European dimension is, in fact, already a reality. It is about continuing it by opening a space to a new generation of creators. I realize that we have reached the end of two generations of great masters – from Krystian Lupa or Frank Castorf to Thomas Ostermeier. This was a great moment in the history of theater, but today there is a generation following them, which finds its place in festivals – Automne, Avignon… – but is not necessarily defended in theaters like the were his predecessors. Important artists, like the Catalan collective El Conde de Torrefiel, the Austrian Florentina Holzinger, the Brazilian Carolina Bianchi, the trans artist Samira Elagoz, are superstars in Europe, but are not programmed in major institutions, because those -they remain very identified with the question of text and repertoire.

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