The eighth edition of “YES!” », French theater festival in Barcelona, organized by Mathilde Mottier and François Vilawill be held from January 23 to February 5, 2025. The meeting has become essential for French-speaking fans of the performing arts in the Catalan capital, who will be able to anticipate the pleasure of this reunion this year, thanks to a reading aloud competition. An event of this kind was already on the program during the last editions, notably through the meetings organized at the Jaimes bookstore, but now takes on another dimension, thanks to the partnership with the EOI (Escola Oficial d’Idiomes), the Badalona language school.
A competition to make the texts of the “Oui! » in Barcelona
“We are going to give another scale to the reading aloud competition this year, by reaching out to a large audience, through a mailing, to encourage as many candidates as possible to take part in this game”explain François Vila ; “It is an event which is part of the same logic as the festival, that is to say to allow people to see, know and love the texts of the authors that we have programmed during the different editions ».
The texts presented as part of this competition were selected by Catherine Anne Lau Guillelmi and Nathalie Lhuillier for the EOI Badalonaas well as Pascale de Schuyter Hualpa and François Vila on behalf of the festival “Yes!” ». All the candidates who wish will meet on the beautiful stage of the Reial Cercle Artistic in Barcelona on February 1st for this public reading exercise. “The competition is obviously open to all, with two categories of texts, for adults and for under fifteen years old”specifies François Vila. And To participate, simply send an email to: [email protected].
Learn more about the world of theater
Beyond the game and the pleasure of putting these original and contemporary texts into your mouth, all competitors will be able to benefit from a free workshop to prepare for the competitionunder the direction of Jean-Luc Paliès. The director is at the same time in residence with his actors for the “Oui! », where they will work on “The Confession of the Princess of Cleves”, written by Louise Doutreligne ; the piece will be created on January 30 at the French Institute of Barcelona.
“The reading competition remains fun, but it is also a way to heighten the curiosity of the public, and to accompany them a little further into the world of theater”added François Vila ; “The idea being to allow these people not only to be spectators and consumers of shows, but to involve them, so that they are stakeholders in the world of theater, and that they take in everything that it there is behind a theatrical performance, starting with the writing of a text”.
With, as a common thread, the love of French and learning the language. This is also why the organizers of this competition want to involve French-speaking associations working in this direction, such as French of the World, The Language of Molière, Beneficence… all these structures which participate, in Catalonia, in relaying a language which also lives through the texts of contemporary authors presented each year in the program of the “Oui! “. So that this public reading competition is also a celebration.
