Soutenance de thèse de M. Jean Vivier

Edited by Florence March,

Jean Deschamps et Shakespeare :
une aventure théâtrale en Occitanie

The thesis is based on the examination of the Jean Deschamps holdings of the Archives départementales de l’Aude, which have hitherto remained unexplored from a scientific perspective. Jean Deschamps (1920-2007) is a major, albeit neglected pioneer of France’s post-World War II policy of theatrical decentralisation. Shakespeare played a major role in Deschamps’s career, in terms of dramaturgy, theatrical architecture and his relationship with the public. Aptly termed « the builder », Deschamps characteristically connected artistic creation and the rediscovery, and even the reconstruction, of unique historical sites (Cité de Carcassonne, Sète’s Théâtre de la Mer, the Roman ruins of Glanum, Serres Castle...).

In the 1960s, he created a whole network of « site specific » theatre festivals along the Mediterranean coast, which led to his appointment as director of the Languedoc-Roussillon region’s first national dramatic centre in 1968. Drawing on the Shakespearean model for inspiration, Deschamps achieved an in-depth transformation of the cultural landscape of Occitanie which contributed to the emergence of smart tourism in the region. Co-funded by the Occitanie region, this thesis comes with an app resulting from a transfer of scholarly expertise to the socio-economic world. An immersive geolocated investigation game on smartphone was created in collaboration with the Montpellier-based start-up Atlantide. This innovative game is a scientific mediation tool intended for a general audience which revisits the concept of popular theatre for our digital age.

Jury composition:

• M. Laurent BERGER, PR, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3
• Mme Nathalie COUTELET, MCF, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint Denis
• M. Andrew HISCOCK, PR, Université de Bangor-pays de Galles
• Mme Chantal MEYER-PLANTUREUX, PR émérite, Université de Caen Normandie
• Mme Florence MARCH, PR, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3
• Mme Nathalie VIENNE-GUERRIN, PR, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3