Olivier Py (; born 24 July 1965 in Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes) is a French stage director, actor and writer.
Career In 1997, Py became director of the Centre dramatique national d'Orléans. In 2007, he became director of the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris.
Py describes himself as Catholic and homosexual.Solis, René (12 May 2007). "Le théâtre est le lieu du païen", interview with Olivier Py published in Libération He is known for his emphasis on Catholic and homoerotic themes.
Since the early 2000s, Py has increasingly devoted himself to the opera. His productions of La damnation de Faust, Tannhäuser and Tristan und Isolde, all in Geneva, have generally been well received. In March 2008, he debuted at the Paris Opéra. On this occasion he stated to a French magazine (Diapason, March 2008) that he "would not be done staging operas until [he] did Wagner's Ring and Parsifal".
From 2013 to 2022 he was in charge of the Avignon Festival..
Theatre Works written and directed 1988: Des oranges et des ongles 1990: Gaspacho, un chien mort 1991: La femme canon et le bouquet final 1992: Les Aventures de Paco Goliard 1992: La Nuit au cirque 1992: La chèvre 1994: La Jeune fille, le diable et le moulin 1995: La Servante – histoire sans fin 1996: Apologétique 1997: Le Visage d'Orphée 1998: Requiem pour Srebrenica 1999: L'Eau de la vie 2000: Le Cabaret de Miss Knife 2000: L'apocalypse joyeuse 2001: Au monde comme n'y étant pas 2001: L'Exaltation du labyrinthe 2001: Épître aux jeunes acteurs pour que soit rendue la parole à la parole 2003: Jeunesse 2004: Le Vase de parfums, opera libretto 2004: Faust Nocturne 2004: Miss Knife chante Olivier Py 2005: Les Vainqueurs 2006: Illusions Comiques 2011: Romeo et Juliette (Shakespeare), at Theatre de l'Odeon 2011: Die Sonne (Le Soleil), Volksbühne Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Published works 1994: La Jeune fille, le diable et le moulin, L'école des loisirs 1998: Théâtre, Solitaires Intempestifs 2005: Les Vainqueurs, Actes Sud 2007: Les Enfants de Saturne
Other productions 1989: Mon Père qui fonctionnait par périodes culinaires et autres () 1996: Miss Knife et sa baraque chantante, Festival d'Avignon 1993: Les Drôles (Élizabeth Mazev) 1999: Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber), Opéra de Nancy 2001: Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach), Grand Théâtre de Genève 2003: La damnation de Faust (Hector Berlioz), Geneva 2003: Le Soulier de satin (Paul Claudel), Orléans 2005: Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner, Geneva 2005: Tannhäuser (Richard Wagner), Geneva 2006: A Cry from Heaven (Vincent Woods) 2006: Curlew River (Benjamin Britten) 2008: The Rake's Progress (Igor Stravinsky), Opéra National de Paris (Palais Garnier) 2008: La Trilogie du Diable: La Damnation de Faust (Hector Berlioz), Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber), Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach). Grand Théâtre de Genève 2017: Mam'zelle Nitouche – in which he appeared as an actor/singer, touring until 2019 2018: Lohengrin (Richard Wagner), La Monnaie, Brussels; 2022 Opera Australia
Movies Actor 1989: Dis-moi oui, dis-moi non (short) directed by Noémie Lvovsky 1995: Funny Bones directed by Peter Chelsom 1995: Au petit Marguery directed by Laurent Bénégui 1995: 75 centilitres de prière (short) directed by Jacques Maillot 1995: Corps inflammables (short) directed by Jacques Maillot 1996: Casse-casse partie (TV) directed by Gérard Renouf 1996: Chacun cherche son chat directed by Cédric Klapisch 1997: La Divine poursuite directed by Michel Deville 1998: Late August, Early September 1999: Peut-être directed by Cédric Klapisch 1999: Nos vies heureuses directed by Jacques Maillot 2000: Les Yeux fermés (TV) directed by Olivier Py
References
External links
Interview (in French) about opera on Odb-opera.com "En violet, le Festival d’Avignon mêle les genres", Le Monde, 29 March 2018 Langlais, Pierre (2007). "Olivier Py or the religion of the theatre", Label France No. 66.