The Théâtre du Gymnase de Marseille draws the curtain for at least three years of work

More than 35 years after its last major renovation, the Théâtre du Gymnase in Marseille will close for at least three years of work, depriving the city of one of its cultural hotspots. There was an emergency: management realized, almost by chance in 2020, that the hall was threatening to collapse. Thursday evening, it was with Le Cabaret des absents , directed by François Cervantes, that the curtain fell one last time on the stage of the oldest theater in Marseille, and the only Italian-style one, if we exclude the opera house, built a few years earlier. To read also The Théâtre de la Criée in Marseille freed from its occupants after three months of occupation Inaugurated in 1804, the one that was originally called Théâtre Français was then “ in systematic competition with opera ” . “It closed, it reopened, it was auctioned ,” says François Cervantes, whose play evokes a previous renaissance of the theater in the 1980s, thanks to an American billionaire. “Le Cabaret des absents partly tells the story of the reconstruction of the Gymnasium, and how this Armand Hammer, president of a large oil company, comes to save the theater “, explains its director since 1993, Dominique Bluzet.

500 meters from rue d’Aubagne But the theater of the Armand-Hammer Gymnasium, its full name, perhaps almost died once again. Because it is almost by chance that the real state of the building is discovered, in February 2020, after a simple inspection visit. It was then a question of changing the carpet and the armchairs. But the technicians “ realize that the beams which support the floors, the basket, the henhouse, are no longer attached to the supporting walls, and that everything risks collapsing ”, Says Dominique Bluzet, then forced to condemn the floors of the room. Only the theater orchestra is now accessible to the public, i.e. 300 seats out of a total capacity of 680 spectators. Regarding the work, “ we certainly had an answer before the collapse “, launches Dominique Bluzet, evoking the rue d’Aubagne, barely 500 meters away, in the Noailles district, where eight people lost their lives in the collapse of two buildings housing in November 2018. The total renovation of the theater, whose budget was estimated at 13.5 million by the town hall, was therefore urgently required. But the site could last longer than the three years planned.

When we heard that it was closing, everyone told me “but it’s a disaster”. For me it wasn’t, nor the pandemic, because these are things that force us to reinvent the relationship we have with the public Dominique Bluzet, director of the theater

The city is already announcing a six-month delay on the provisional schedule. “ We are going to redo a project management consultation for the studies “, explains Jean-Marc Coppola, assistant to culture, according to whom the offers received so far were good above the 990,000 euros voted in the municipal council. But “ there is a story around this theater, it is a theater that works well, which welcomes more than 50,000 spectators each year”, he insists. “ This territory has never let down a theater, whether it is the Whiting or the Auction “, reassures Dominique Bluzet, ensuring that he has received strong commitments from the town hall of Marseilles. “ When we heard that it was closing, everyone said to me “ but it’s a disaster. ” For me it doesn’t was not, and neither was the pandemic, because these are things that force us to reinvent the relationship we have with the public ”, he puts into perspective.

Because the disaffection of theater spectators is a reality that does not date from Covid-19. We are dealing with “ a profound change in society in its way of apprehending the cultural effort “, according to Dominique Bluzet, with people “ accustomed to pecking ”, which“ associate the theater much more than twenty years ago with a place of entertainment ”. While waiting for the reopening of the theater, hoped for in September 2024, the 2021-2022 season will unfold outside the walls, going to meet the public in churches, schools or cafes. And for 2024, a new play has already been commissioned from François Cervantes: “ This theater is a phoenix: it is always reborn from its ashes “, wants to believe its director.