Comédie de Valence

Over the course of some 200 performances each season in its three venues and some sixty decentralised venues, more than 40,000 spectators have made the Comédie de Valence, Centre dramatique national Drôme-Ardèche, a lively and shared venue.
Marc Lainé, author, director and set designer, took over as director of La Comédie de Valence, Centre dramatique national Drôme-Ardèche, in January 2020, with the ambition of making it one of the major venues for transdisciplinary creation in the service of the dramatic arts.

A place for transdisciplinary creation
Developing a venue for trans-disciplinary creation means multiplying the number of possible approaches to theater, whether literary, cinematographic, musical or visual...
It's about wanting to surprise the audience, to thwart their presuppositions, to help them rediscover the formidable tool for understanding the world and themselves that theater can represent.
It's about inviting them to reappropriate art and culture, thanks to the participative dimension that is also at the heart of the project.

An artistic ensemble with complementary backgrounds
Marc Lainé relies on an artistic ensemble of complementary backgrounds and aesthetics, made up of directors (Guillaume Cayet, Silvia Costa, Tünde Deak, Sarah Delaby-Rochette, Lorraine de Sagazan, Cyril Teste) whose works La Comédie produces or co-produces, and artists from all disciplines (Alice Diop, Penda Diouf, Marie-Sophie Ferdane, Alice Zeniter, Bertrand Belin, Éric Minh Cuong Castaing, Stephan Zimmerli, Neo Neo), closely associated with the life of the theater.

A regional associate company
From 2020 to 2024, a regional company was associated with La Comédie each season. From now on, regional companies will be associated for one term, integrating the Ensemble d'artistes pluridisciplinaires. Guillaume Cayet and Sarah Delaby-Rochette, both directors from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, are joining La Comédie's Artistic Ensemble.

Made in La Comédie and partnerships
The artists of the Ensemble Artistique contribute to the development of new programs designed for La Comédie de Valence, entitled Made in La Comédie:

O.V.N.I. (Objets valentinois non identifiés - unidentified valentine objects), which are participative in situ creative projects that can be realized in any artistic form (graphic novel, film, radio, performance...);
projects developed for and with all local audiences, including the renewal of the Comédie itinérante;
research programs: the A.R.T. (Ateliers de recherche transdisciplinaire) for directors wishing to explore a particular cross-disciplinary area, and the Studios d'écriture nomades for playwrights wishing to test their text on stage during the writing process, under the watchful eye of Ensemble artists.
The Théâtromaton, a mobile workshop structure, like a traveling micro-theater.
The CDN's focus on its home region is also characterized by its desire to forge partnerships with all the cultural players in the area. The first season, marked by work on La Comédie to improve accessibility, has enabled us to start thinking about joint projects or links with some of them.

Historical background:

1997-2000
La Comédie de Valence was founded in 1997 by actor and director Philippe Delaigue. In January 2001, director Christophe Perton was appointed co-director, giving the Comédie the status of Centre dramatique national, and bringing the Ardèche department into the fold.

2001-2009
Their first mandate saw the creation of the Comédie itinérante, a network of touring productions in the Drôme and Ardèche regions, and the establishment of a permanent troupe, active from 2001 to 2009. They are implementing an artistic policy focused on Europe, contemporary writing and commissions.
Christophe Perton was appointed sole director in 2006. He has expanded his project, raising La Comédie's profile by presenting his creations nationally and internationally.

2010-2019
From 2010 to 2019, La Comédie is directed by actor and director Richard Brunel. He surrounds himself with a collective of artists committed to new creations and projects, continues to roll out La Comédie itinérante with some sixty decentralized venues, develops artistic education initiatives and gives high visibility to the CDN's creations and productions on tour in France and Europe.