Theater: “What we don’t see is as important as what we see!”

– “What we don’t see is no less important than what we do see!”

In office since July 1, the new host of Scènes du Grütli is launching programming in January oriented towards a “desirable future”. Interview.

BotTalk

• Eric Devanthéry has been directing the Théâtre du Grütli since the summer. Its programming begins in January 2025.
• Its program includes unconventional theatrical “pop-ups”.
• It values ​​rhizomic and diversified governance.
• The first season is called “The World Tree,” inspired by Richard Powers.

What led you to run for the position?

Between 2015 and 2018, I completed a three-year residency at the Théâtre Pitoëff with my company, and the specifications included modest co-productions and receptions. I really enjoyed doing my own work while organizing the material of other artists. The experience reinforced my idea and desire to one day manage a theater. With its two platforms and its regional mission, that of Grütli suits me very well, it crystallizes many issues for the profession.

And what do you think led you to get it?

My project is largely structured around the notion of “pop-up”, that is to say proposals which leave the institutional framework to deploy in the territory – apartments, temperate greenhouse of the Botanical Garden, etc. – with a desire to going towards first-time spectators: I think this idea appealed. Before being a director and director, I am also a great spectator, I go to theaters a lot and have built up a fairly complete vision of the French-speaking cultural landscape, which is perhaps a quality in the eyes of experts. I also want to open the place to German Switzerland, in particular thanks to the privileged link I have with the Schlachthaus in Bern. Finally, I think that my reflection on rhizome governance may have also been titillating: it is a question of breaking the pyramidal hierarchical structure by banking on the expertise and singularity of each person, with the idea of ​​building a sort of ecosystem .

You rename the theater Scènes du Grütli…

Yes, in the plural. Not only does the theater have two, but I add those of its more occasional “pop-ups”. And then, the desire for diversification of audiences is accompanied by a desire to break down the distinctions between different theatrical forms. “Scenes” allows me to broaden the notion: we expect a choreographic proposition as well as a performance or a more classic show.

Why did you choose to name your seasons The World Tree for the first half of 2025?

The basis of this decision is literary, since I borrow these names from existing books: “The World Tree” by Richard Powers, followed in 2025-2026 by “The Roots of the Sky” by Romain Gary, then “A Place to oneself” by Virginia Woolf. Rather than seasons, I prefer to speak of poetic horizons, in the sense that these word associations will activate an imaginary lever. We provided these titles in advance to all the artists who submitted projects to us, so that they could find a place for themselves. Also revealed to the public, the names function as an envelope, an empty shell which will be filled according to its internal echoes.

A little teaser for the upcoming half-season?

The shows will mix music, text and games in a very intricate way. In particular, we will have a double questioning about climate change and our future. With on the one hand “Les enfants du Rhône”, a text by the author Ed Wige (aka Danica Hanz), Swiss Literature Prize 2023, which entrusts a quartet of actresses with the story of three communities who come together in 2112 to commemorate a common ancestor. And, on the other, a piece by the writer Alice Zeniter, “When will the wave come”. We will also return to “Chapters of the Fall” by Stefano Massini, on the saga of the Lehman Brothers, which Thierry Romanens directed with the late Andrea Novicov. Rather than pessimistic, our projection towards the future is intended to be a quest for new imaginations to create a desirable future.

Will you make the utopia after which you gave the name to your company come true at Grütli?

I would like to work on a theater scale in the same way that I directed my company or directed productions, in this rhizome operation. This word covers a plant form that develops both underground and in the form of external plants. At the end of the roots a structure can be recreated which will go vertical again. What we don’t see is no less important than what we do see.

What do you plan to change, compared to the current management?

I would like to give a long time to the exploitation of shows: three or four weeks, including rest days, to arrive at an average of 15 to 24 days of performances. I wonder if the reduction in operating time has restricted audiences, or if public practices have forced us to shorten operating times: I have to do the test! My experience shows me that artistically a show benefits from being performed for a long time. And, from an economic point of view, repeating six weeks to play three times makes no sense.

You are 50 this year. SO?

It’s crazy! It’s a good time for me to embrace this privilege, both in my private and professional life. More than my 50 years, which I don’t believe in!, I am struck by the influence of my new position on people’s behavior. Suddenly, I scare, I inspire respect, I create demand… For the moment, I have more friends than enemies, but retaining around twenty proposals per season out of more than a hundred received, sooner or later, it’s bound to make people unhappy!

Podcast-presentation of season The World TreeNovember 29 at 7:30 p.m., www.grutli.ch