Seuls en Scène, Princeton French Theater Festival 2023

Seuls en Scène brings celebrated French actors and directors, as well as promising early-career artists, to Princeton University and the local community to present their work, introducing American audiences to dynamic and engaging French productions. We are thrilled to bring this new edition of the festival in collaboration with the 52nd Edition of Festival d’Automne in Paris.

Festival Runs September 8-29, 2023

For the 12th edition of the annual Seuls en Scène, join us for three weeks of in-person performances of recent works by renowned French and Francophone artists including Audrey Bonnet, Fanny de Chaillé, Penda Diouf, Clément Hervieu-Léger, David Lescot, Lionel Lingelser, Louis Arène, Ludmilla Dabo, Olivier Tarpaga, Wanjiru Kamuyu, Marine Bachelot Nguyen, and Karima El Kharraze, among others.

Read the press release about the 2023 French Theater Festival

Festival Tickets and Details

Held in various venues on the Princeton University campus, most performances are free and open to the public. Registration required for all events.

Reserve free tickets through University Ticketing for most shows.

  • Please note that even if tickets for a show seem to be sold out, seats often become available the night of the performance. Please arrive early for any performance in order to claim tickets that may become available prior to the start of the show.

Purchase tickets through McCarter Box Office for the 9/29 show at Matthews Theatre.

Accessibility

Some of the performances will have translations available in English via supertitles. If you need other access accommodations, please contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu for assistance at least one week in advance of the event date.

View accessibility details for parking, routes, and venues

Festival Program

Program information is available for each of the festival performances. Browse the festival program

Sponsorship

The French Theater Festival is sponsored by Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, L’Avant-Scène, Department of French and Italian, Humanities Council, Princeton Institute for International and Regional Study (PIIRS), Department of Art and Archaeology, Department of Comparative Literature, Program in African Studies, and the Program in European Politics and Society. International sponsors include 52nd edition of Festival d’Automne in Paris, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Villa Albertine, FACE Foundation, and Institut français.

Festival Lineup & Schedule

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

Munstrum Théâtre brings its hit solo show from the 2021-2022 season, Les possédés d’Illfurth (The Possessed of Illfurth). In this tour-de-force performance by Lionel Lingelser, he pays a vibrant tribute to the part of childhood and innocence where all fantasies are possible, which helps the imagination to transform itself into a refuge—an unshakable fortress in the face of reality. Performed in French with English subtitles. Content Advisory: Discussion/mention of sexual abuse. Suitable for audiences age 16 and older. Free tickets required.

Hearst Dance Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

Fanny de Chaillé returns to Princeton with 10 young actors from the 2020 Talent Adami Théâtre initiative and launches them in her idiosyncratic research about performance. A hit of the 49th Edition of Festival d’Automne in Paris, Le Choeur has continued its impact well beyond the festival, touring throughout France. Performed in French with English subtitles. Free tickets required.

Hearst Dance Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

Along with Le Choeur, Fanny de Chaillé presents her recent creation Une autre histoire du théâtre aimed at presenting a novel history of theater to broader audiences and questioning the artistic commitment of young performers, asking: why do they desire to become actors? Performed in French with English subtitles. Free tickets required.

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

Three female playwrights, Marine Bachelot Nguyen, Penda Diouf and Karima El Kharraze, read three texts that follow the footsteps of their ancestors and forebears. Their epic and intimate crossings invoke Vietnam, Senegal, Ivory Coast or Morocco – countries linked to France and its colonial history. Show performed in French with English subtitles. Free tickets required.

Class of 1970 Theater at Whitman College · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

This play is the first of eight in the Huit rois (“Eight kings”) series, which will sketch the portrait of the eight presidents that have ruled France since the advent of the Fifth Republic. Show performed in French. Free tickets required.

Class of 1970 Theater at Whitman College · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

Alone on stage, the actor and playwright of the text, Mathieu Genet, directed by Audrey Bonnet, assumes the role of narrator, character, dancer, stage manager, and museum guide. He works from a world of absurd encounters between beings who attempt to sculpt the void, master the present moment, compose a hymn for all of humanity, or build shelters in which to lose themselves…Performed in French. Free tickets required.

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

Through the legendary singer’s music and life story, intertwined with personal stories from Dabo’s own life, Dabo charts Simone’s journey from young musical prodigy to her role as a major figure in the civil rights movement. The show will be performed in English on 9/16 and in French (with English subtitles) on 9/17. Free tickets required.

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsL’Avant-Scène

After directing large ensembles, Clément Hervieu-Léger wanted to direct a smaller play and write a text for two of his regular actors in his company, Compagnie des Petits-Champs. Place de la République is an exquisite encounter between strangers who connect one day on Place de la République. Prior to the performance, Hervieu-Léger will read excerpts of Les visages et les corps by Patrice Chéreau as part of a tribute to the late French master director. Performed in French. Free tickets required.

Matthews Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center · Presented by: Lewis Center for the ArtsDepartment of MusicL’Avant-ScèneMcCarter Theatre Center

With six dancers and five musicians who count themselves among the best in Africa, Olivier Tarpaga (Lester Horton Award-winning choreographer/director of the African Music Ensembles of Princeton University) confronts the tragedy of his homeland with a “feminist Africanist” piece that carries the hope that once the dust has settled, flowers will bloom again, and the songs and dances will return. Show includes reading in French. Purchase tickets through McCarter Box Office.

Tickets

Most performances are free and open to the public. Registration required for all events.

Reserve free tickets through University Ticketing for most shows.

Purchase tickets through McCarter Box Office for 9/29 show at Matthews Theatre.

Questions?

If you have any inquiries concerning the French Theater Festival, please email ftw@princeton.edu. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing you!