Quai d’Angers

Under the leadership of theatre director Frédéric Bélier-Garcia, Nouveau Théâtre d’Angers (NTA) / Centre Dramatique National (CDN) is staffed by a team of artists and cultural professionals whose mission is to provide Angers and the surrounding region with dynamic theatrical performances.
NTA has a tripartite public service mission in the theatre domain consisting of creation, production and training.
Having merged with Théâtre Le Quai in May 2007, CDN stages productions for Angers and the surrounding region. These productions also go on tour in France and are often presented in Paris and abroad. Last season, Frédéric Bélier-Garcia directed Hanokh Levin’s Yaacobi et Leidental and Ferenc Molnár’s Liliom.
NTA also sponsors productions in Angers realized by French and foreign directors, mainly of contemporary plays. 17 such productions will be available via a Le Quai subscription during the 2009-2010 season.

NTA also conducts numerous educational and awareness raising programs for various types of audiences.
All of these artistic and cultural activities are offered in a spirit of public service and at affordable prices, thanks to funding from the departments of cultural affairs of the city of Angers, the Loire region, and Maine-et-Loire department.
NTA’s 2009-2010 season

www.nta-angers.fr/

Cahiers du Nouveau Théâtre d’Angers
Frédéric Bélier-Garcia is continuing his publication of Cahiers du Nouveau Théâtre d’Angers in connection with new Centre Dramatique National productions. This season, volume 67 will be devoted to Marie Ndiaye to mark the new production of Toute vérité in October 2009.

Journal du NTA
Volume 0 of Journal du NTA was published in June 2008. "We would like this journal to be an organ of the theatre of yes," noted Frédéric Bélier-Garcia in his introductory message. Journal du NTA chronicles events at Centre Dramatique National and Théâtre Le Quai, as well as events that occur while productions are on tour. The next issues are scheduled to appear in the fall of 2009 and the winter of 2010.

NTA online: www.nta-angers.fr
Information regarding NTA productions, along with video excerpts and online ticket purchasing, is available from the Théâtre Le Quai Web site. The Nouveau Théâtre d’Angers (NTA) Web site provides detailed information on all CDN activities (downloadable files etc.).

PREAC
Pôle de ressources pour l’éducation artistique et culturelle (PREAC) is an umbrella artistic and cultural education organization consisting of NTA, Institut universitaire de formation des maîtres (IUFM), Centre régional de documentation pédagogique (CRDP) of the Loire region and CNDC. PREAC focuses on teacher training, as well as publishing teaching materials, which are available from NTA and CRDP.

• Les carnets du pôle. These documents describe specific tools for the documentation of PREAC training programs.
Volume 1: Lectures de la Scénographie
Volume 2: Cinéma/théâtre: les inséparables?
Volume 3: La tentation de l’autre (working title; scheduled to appear in early 2010)

• Pièce (dé)montée. To mark the restaging in Angers of Yaacobi et Leidental and the production’s upcoming national tour, PREAC plans to issue instructional materials by Sylvie Fontaine and Nathalie Pirotais based on the production. The materials will be available in September 2009 at http://crdp.ac-paris.fr/piece-demontee/ .

• L’art et la manière d’intervenir en milieu scolaire (excerpts). Excerpts from these five publications will be available on the CRDP Web site in early 2010. (http://www.crdp-nantes.fr/artsculture/theatre/index.htm)

• DVD of Du jeu au théâtre. This audiovisual instructional tool that introduces students to the world of the theatre was co-authored by Jean Bauné and Dany Porché and produced by Pierrick David and Bernard Taillat (CRDP des Pays de la Loire). The DVD was co-produced by PREAC in the SCEREN collection Entrer en théâtre, whose general editor is Jean-Claude Lallias.

• Je monte un projet théâtre! This practical guide is for any teacher who is planning to embark on a theatrical event. It explores issues such as working with actors and cultural organizations; the audience’s experience of the play; and approaches to the contemporary repertoire.

Discussions with actors at Nouveau Théâtre d’Angers (NTA)
Discussions with actors from a specific production are generally held immediately following the Wednesday performance and are announced in the performance schedule.

Open rehearsals
Performers in residence at NTA hold open rehearsals to enable members of the public to learn more about the creative process that underlies a theatrical production.

Readings
Nouveau Théâtre d’Angers (NTA) offers a series of readings comprising brief encounters between a text and an actor in his/her capacity as an enlightened interpreter. These performances enable audiences to hear excerpts from unusual, curious and oftentimes unpublished texts.
During the 2009-2010 season, readings will be held on the following dates on the rehearsal stage of NTA at Le Quai: 16 November, 14 December and 20 March; and during the Fête des Arts Vivants (11-16 May).

Lecture and discussion series at Apartés de La Librairie bookstore
A number of lectures and discussions will be held this season under the auspices of Apartés de La Librairie bookstore at Place Sainte-Croix.
The first event, on 11 December, will feature Shakespeare translator Jean-Michel Déprats. Apartés de La Librairie will also stock books that are related to Le Quai productions.

Facilities for the hearing and sight impaired
NTA has installed extensive facilities so as to ensure that hearing and/or sight impaired persons are able to attend and fully enjoy the theatre’s productions. These facilities comprise audio descriptions of the sets, costumes, lighting and action, as well as individualized supertitles and simultaneous translation into sign language. Support for these facilities was provided by Conseil Général de Maine-et-Loire and the city of Angers, in collaboration with Accès Culture.

Cultural practices

NTA endeavors to make its programming accessible to all audiences via mass transit discounts and by offering preferential prices to the theatre’s various partners.
Toward this end, NTA also does the following: disseminates information regarding the activities of a national cultural institution (works in progress, theatrical professions and so on); encourages the public to attend performances of contemporary plays; and makes efforts to educate and raise the awareness of the various audiences that attend the theatre’s productions.
This is done in a variety of ways, including via cultural partnerships in which Musée des Beaux-arts d’Angers creates guided tours related to works being staged at NTA. These tours are realized in such a way that they are accessible to all audiences.
A program known as Brûler les Planches enables secondary school students to visit NTA, learn about the theatrical professions, and try their hand at acting in a playful manner. Other tours, which center around backstage activities, are also available for young people, adults and families in partnership with cultural centers, Charte Culture et Solidarité, and regional works councils.
Families can attend NTA performances via productions for younger audiences, as well as those for children, where parents and kids alike discover the excitement of a theatrical performance and have plenty to talk about afterwards. Parents who attend theatrical performances can sign their children up for theatre related readings, games and other activities that are held during the performance (see p. 88).

The actor’s craft

NTA supports efforts to raise awareness regarding the art of acting, via the theatre’s partnerships.
These programs are conducted by professional actors who are specially selected by NTA for the high quality of their work, as well as their teaching abilities. This season’s programs will center around NTA’s productions of Toute Vérité, Yaacobi et Leidental, Merlin and Notre Terreur.

NTA also conducts specific projects for students at affiliated schools. Last season, NTA realized such projects with 22 primary schools, three schools for disabled students, eight junior high schools, and 14 high schools. These projects can involve the following: a dialogue with actors regarding the creative process and its interface with music, dance and the like; readings and lectures; engaging with contemporary plays; and acting workshops. These activities are realized in consultation with the relevant teachers. This season, thanks to the Banquet d’Avril theatrical company, pupils from 15 classes will have the opportunity to meet and correspond with Paimpol and Djali, two characters who will dialogue with the pupils during part of the school year.

NTA also has a close partnership with the following institutions of higher education, which co-finance initiatives for college students: Université d’Angers and the associations known as Tréteaux de l’Université and Zygomatiks; Université Catholique de l’Ouest (UCO); Agro-campus Ouest; Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ESBA); ENSAM and ESSCA.
NTA will also be holding an event on 6 February 2010, called Les Esquisses ("Works in progress") that will center around students’ theatrical projects.
NTA will host two student productions during the De Cour à Jardin national college theatre festival, which is being sponsored by Université d’Angers in April 2010.

Chevrollier d’Angers high school in Angers offers theatre classes, which are supervised by college literature professors and a team of actors selected by NTA.

NTA provides various types of support for college courses in theatre studies. This season, more than 200 students will be taking such courses. Students majoring in theatre arts at UCO’s Institut d’Art, de Lettres et d’Histoire (School of the arts, literature and history) will benefit from this NTA support. A sculpture course at Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-arts titled Atelier de Recherche et de Création ("exploration and creation") in which 12 students are enrolled is conducted in close collaboration with NTA’s technical staff. As a partner of Université d’Angers, NTA is involved in the new degree program known as Diplôme Universitaire Théâtre as well as in Unités d’Enseignement Libre (elective) courses. NTA also continues to partner with degree programs at the polytechnic universities in Cholet and Angers.

NTA’s Ateliers de Formation et de Recherche (AFRs) (masterclasses) are conducted by well established actors or directors on a broad range of subjects. The three week long courses, which are for professional actors, are held on NTA’s rehearsal stage. NTA has sponsored 75 AFRs since the organization’s inception. The following AFRs were held last season: Atelier 76, which was led by three actors from Les Possédés theatre company, revolved around plays by Jean-Luc Lagarce; Atelier 77, which was led by Laurent Hattat and concerned Beaumarchais; and Atelier 78, which was conducted by Jean-François Auguste and concerned itself with La tragédie du vengeur by Cyril Tourneur. Four AFRs will be held this season, the first of which will be led by Frédéric Bélier-Garcia from 27 October to 13 November. The remaining masterclasses will be aimed at young theatre directors.

The annual L’art et la manière d’intervenir en milieu scolaire course focuses on the theory and practice of theatre arts teaching. This season’s session will be held from 9-13 March 2010. Aimed at teachers in training, the course addresses various topics such as acting, lighting, makeup and set design.

NTA is also involved in teacher training via a program that is an outgrowth of NTA’s partnerships with French universities, and particularly with the teacher training institution known as IUFM des Pays de la Loire. The courses, which are aimed at future primary and secondary school teachers, broaden participants’ awareness of the theatre repertory and provide them with training in teaching introductory acting courses, theatre arts classroom management, and the relevant teaching techniques.

Pôle de ressources pour l’éducation artistique et culturelle (PREAC) offers training courses for individuals whose work revolves around artistic and cultural education projects.

• A theatre course known as Parcours de formation à l’encadrement de pratique théâtrale for schoolteachers, workshop leaders, theatre enthusiasts and education majors will be offered this season on the theme of révolte intergénérationnelle (intergenerational revolt). The course will cover basic acting and theatre teaching techniques, choral speaking, and text vocalization. The course will be held in three stages, on the following dates:
Stage 1: 10, 17 and 18 October
Stage 2: 5, 6 and 7 November
Stage 3: 6 February-20 March

• A two-day interdisciplinary teacher training course on the narrative in theatre and dance will be held in collaboration with CNDC. This course will revolve around the Le Quai productions of Shinbaï, le vol de l’âme and Pinocchio.

• For the third consecutive season, workshops known as Journées d’étude sur la médiation culturelle will be held for theatre arts professionals on issues related to audiences, awareness raising and cultural development.