Many thought that with “DÄMON”, the show which opens the main courtyard of the Palais des Papes since June 29, as part of the 78th Avignon Festival, the scandal would come from the provocative scenes (pope buttocks in the air on stage…) imagined by the Spanish artist Angelia Liddell, who is accustomed to doing so. This is not the case…yet.
Against all expectations, it is a part of the play, relating to the press, which, to this day, creates a certain hiatus. Reminder of the facts: this Saturday, June 29, the first performance of “DÄMON” took place at the Palais des Papes in front of 2000 spectators.
“Public insults”
In the audience, many journalists, including Stéphane Capron, head of the “Live show” section at France Inter and also founder of the Sceneweb site. For several minutes, Angelica Liddell performs extracts from press articles concerning her previous shows, quoting and directly targeting the journalists who wrote them. Including Stéphane Capron. Who has since filed a complaint for “public insults”, asking “that the insults be removed from the show until the end of the Avignon festival”. The play in question is being performed at the Palais des Papes until July 5.
On the social networkplaywright Angelica Liddell violently attacked journalists who criticized her plays in the past, quoting some of them ad hominem“. The director of the Avignon festival Tiago Rodrigues (for whom this is the second edition in this position) declared to AFP: “the remarks made on stage as part of an artistic project cannot be considered as a position of the festival”. And to add that it defends “freedom of creation, freedom of expression and freedom of the press” and “does not have to interfere with the integrity of the works presented”.
