Jean -Marie Hordé announces his departure from this innovative Parisian establishment for the end of June – which, by the way, from private subsidized becomes public as of right.
by
A page turns for the Théâtre de la Bastille. At the end of June, Jean-Marie Hordé will leave this establishment of 11 e arrondissement which he has been running since 1989. The theater occupies a special place in Parisian geography. Like northern puffs or Athénée, it is a subsidized private theater. Private, because the premises do not belong to the State or to the town hall of Paris but are rented to the director, who owns the lease. Subsidized, because it receives money from the State and the town hall of Paris. In this context, any change of direction is delicate.
The Bastille was first of all a coffee-concert, at the beginning of the 20th e century, then a cinema. He changed his function in 1974, when director Henri Ronce took the direction and gave him the name of oblique theater. It was with another director, Jean-Claude Fall, that he became theater of the Bastille in 1982. Jean-Marie Hordé had directed for ten years the Théâtre de Cergy-Pontoise (Val-d’Oise) When he decided to succeed him. “I sent a ten-line letter to Jack Lang, Minister of Culture, to tell him that this theater interested me,” he recalls, in his small office. Bernard Dort, the theater advisor, phoned me : “If you want this theater, go ahead!” It was a way, for the ministry, to soften me. He knew that I was not going to market the theater, I am a child of Malraux. “
“An association has been created”
The problem is that there are a lot of debts in inheritance, and the ministry does not increase the grant. “Every fifteen days, the accountant called me:” Is it better? “I replied:” It’s worse. “” Measures are taken to reduce costs – the team goes from fourteen to eight people -, but The director does not give in to a principle: hosting companies by signing transfer contracts (by buying the shows) and not of co -eating (recipes shared between the theater and the companies). At the end of 1989, the State helped Jean-Marie Hordé to obtain a loan from the Caisse des Dépôts. It will take seven years for the theater of the Bastille to regain the balance.
A room at the top of 157 seats, one larger, below, 261 places, without outputs on the courtyard or clearances, but with a room-scène ratio that compensates everything: the Bastille is a “small” place, which Then acquired a strong identity of innovative theater, combining theater and dance shows – at reasonable prices. In 2009, Jean-Marie Hordé bought the lease of the optician adjoining the theater, set up a bar, enlarged the offices. His team is growing. The subsidy amounts to 1.8 million euros (two thirds of the State, a third of the city of Paris).
You have 29.29% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.