The death of Jany Gastaldi, emblematic actress of Antoine Vitez’s theater

Born in May 1948, the actress Jany Gastaldi, whom director Antoine Vitez directed fifteen times from 1971 to 1987, died on November 24, at the age of 76, from cancer.

The actress was rare on the stage. Since 2011 and her role as Philaminte, in Learned Womenby Molière (directed by Marc Paquien), she was no longer in demand. Some recordings of fiction for radio, a voice-over in 2024, in Palaisa montage of texts proposed by Matthieu Marie, that’s all. “For many of us, she was the Doña Sol of to Hernani and the Doña Music of Satin Shoe. Two unforgettable roles, testifies Marc Paquien. But the new generation of artists, who did not know her, had not seen her in the drama of Victor Hugo [1985] nor in that of Paul Claudel [1987]passed by her. »

What a shame to have deprived oneself of this singular voice with its sensual and singing phrasing, of this naughty look under the brown mop of hair, of this not very tall body, of a striking energy, of this intense and generous presence. Honored in 1990 with a Prize for best actress awarded by the Critics’ Union, Jany Gastaldi did not shy away from theater, contemporary or classic. In his biography, the names of authors speak volumes about an appetite for eclectic play. Michel Vinaver, Philippe Minyana, Botho Strauss, Jean Genet rub shoulders with the end of the end of the repertoire: Shakespeare, Beaumarchais, Corneille and also Marivaux, worked in 1973 with Patrice Chéreau, who directs her in The Dispute.

“Nature of a tragedian”

From 1971, in The WorldBertrand Poirot-Delpech underlined in a few tight lines the evidence of the actress’s talent. The debutante, only 23 years old, has just joined the sets of Antoine Vitez who was her teacher at the National Higher Conservatory of Dramatic Art. Cast in the role of Hermione (Andromacheby Racine), it already reveals, according to Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, “the nature of a tragedian, both frail and tenacious, full of nerves and already very controlled”. Tragedian, it’s true, she was, but also mischievous, ironic, loving to laugh and to make people laugh. “We must not forget how funny she could be”insists Marc Paquien.

With Vitez, the companionship is exemplary. She is part of all his adventures. Jany Gastaldi follows him to the Avignon Festival, where she covers three of the four plays by Molière that he unfolds in a legendary marathon (Dom Juan, The Misanthrope, The Tartuffe1978). Later, she participated in the (equally iconic) creation of the Satin shoe (1987). A journey through the night under the stars of the Court of Honor of the Palais des Papes which sees her, for the only time in her life, tackling the prose of Claudel.

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