Molière (theater award)
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The Molière is France's national theater award . The award is named after the French playwright Molière (1622–1673) and was first awarded in 1987 on the initiative of the journalist Georges Cravenne , who was also co-founder of the national César film award . Since then, the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre (APAT) has been honoring the best French-language stage productions and theater professionals of the previous year in Paris every year in April or May . The award ceremony is broadcast on French television and is referred to as “La Nuit des Molières” ( German : “The Night of the Molières”), based on the annual César awards ceremony .
Electoral process
The members of the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre decide on the winners, who will be awarded a golden Molière bust , in two ballots. In the past, winners had also been determined by a jury whose decisions were often criticized by the public. A new election procedure introduced in 2006 is intended to make the distribution of the prizes more balanced and representative, although theater journalists and critics will no longer be allowed to vote in the future, as announced in 2006 by the former APAT President Pierre Santini .
The APAT may have a maximum of 1500 members, whereby the proportion of actors may not exceed half of the total number of members. At the last award in 2006, 1,300 members of the Molière Academy voted on the nominated plays and artists, which were made up of theater professionals (850 people), past award winners (150) and producers from public and private theaters (300). You decide based on objective criteria, such as activity, geographical location or representative character.
In addition, special juries were created in 2006, which awarded Molières for the best theater company and theater musical and two special prizes (Grand prix spécial du jury), which honored public and private theaters.
Categories
So far, the theater prizes have been awarded in up to 28 annually varying categories. A distinction was made between the award of the Molières and the Grand prix spécial du jury, the special prize of the jury (awarded until 2006). At the 21st Molières award ceremony on May 14, 2007, Le Gardien ( The Caretaker ) by Harold Pinter at the Théâtre de l'Œuvre in Paris (director: Didier Long , adaptation: Philippe Djian ) and the publicly funded triumphed as the best stage play in a private theater financed production Cyrano de Bergerac by Denis Podalydès at the Comédie-Française , which was the most successful with six prizes won. The award of the prizes was criticized by the French daily Le Monde , which denounced the decentralization of the French theater landscape. In the two important categories of Best Play - Private Theater and Best Play - Public Theater , only productions from Parisian theaters are considered, while stage productions outside the French capital are separately awarded the prize for the best regional play ( Molière du théâtre en région ). In the last few years there has also been increasing criticism that theater productions financed with state subsidies in particular do particularly well with the Molières every year.
The 2007 price categories:
Molière
| category | Original designation | awarded since |
|---|---|---|
| Best play - private theater | Meilleur spectacle du théâtre privé | 1987 |
| Best Play - Public Theater | Meilleur spectacle du théâtre public | 1987 |
| Best director | Meilleur metteur en scene | 1987 |
| Best Actor | Meilleur comédien | 1987 |
| Best main actress | Meilleure comédienne | 1987 |
| Best supporting actor | Meilleur comédien in a second role | 1987 |
| The best supporting actress | Meilleure comédienne in a second role | 1987 |
| Best young actor | Révélation théâtrale masculine | 1987 |
| Best Young Actress | Révélation théâtrale féminine | 1987 |
| Best one-man or one-woman show | Meilleur spectacle seul (e) en scene | 1989 |
| Best original script | Meilleur author | 1987 |
| Best adapted script | Meilleur adaptateur | 1987 |
| Best production design | Meilleur décorateur-scénographe | 1987 |
| Best costumes | Meilleur creator of costumes | 1987 |
| Best light | Meilleur creator de lumières | 2000 |
| Best regional play | Meilleur théâtre en région | 1988 |
| Best musical | Meilleur spectacle musical | 1987 |
| Best Young Play - Public Theater | Meilleur spectacle jeune public | 2007 |
Jury Awards (1988-2006)
| category | Original designation | Award period |
|---|---|---|
| Big special prize of the jury - private theater | Grand prix special du jury théâtre privé | 2006 |
| Big special prize of the jury - Public theater in one region | Grand prix spécial du jury théâtre public en région / Meilleur spectacle de la decentralization | 1988-2006 |
Awards
| year | date | Venue | President (APAT) | President (award) |
| 1987 | ? | ? | Jean-Louis Barrault | François Périer |
| 1988 | ? | ? | Jean-Louis Barrault | Edwige Feuillère |
| 1989 | ? | ? | Pierre Dux | Jeanne Moreau |
| 1990 | ? | ? | Pierre Dux | Jean Marais |
| 1991 | ? | ? | Francis Huster | Vittorio Gassman |
| 1992 | ? | ? | Francis Huster | Suzanne Flon |
| 1993 | April 5th | Théâtre du Châtelet | Claude Rich | Michel Serrault |
| 1994 | April 18 | Théâtre du Châtelet | Claude Rich | Jacques Dufilho |
| 1995 | 27th of March | Théâtre Marigny | Pierre Arditi | Maria Casarès |
| 1996 | May 6th | Théâtre Marigny | Pierre Arditi | Ludmila Mikaël |
| 1997 | April 14th | Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Jean-Claude Carrière | Yasmina Reza |
| 1998 | April 6th | Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Jean-Claude Carrière | Dario Fo |
| 1999 | May 3rd | Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Jean-Claude Carrière | Pierre Arditi |
| 2000 | 8th of May | Opéra-Comique | Suzanne Flon | Jérôme Savary |
| 2001 | May 7th | Théâtre Marigny | Jean Danet | Robert Hossein |
| 2002 | April 1st | Théâtre Mogador | Jean Piat | Jean Piat |
| 2003 | 12th of May | Théâtre Mogador | Jean Piat | Jean Piat |
| 2004 | April 19th | Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Jean Piat | Jean Piat |
| 2005 | May 9 | Théâtre Mogador | Pierre Santini |
Laurent Ruquier William Leymergie |
| 2006 | April 24th | Théâtre Mogador | ? | Jacques Weber |
| 2007 | May 14th | Théâtre de Paris | Jean-Claude Houdinière | Jacques Weber |
| 2008 | April 28 | Folies Bergère | ? | Karine Le Marchand |
| 2009 | 26th of April | Théâtre de Paris | ? | Frédéric Mitterrand |
| 2010 | April 25 | Maison des arts et de la culture de Créteil | Line Renaud | Marie Drucker and Michel Drucker |
| 2011 | 17th April | Maison des arts et de la culture de Créteil | Michel Galabru | Laurent Lafitte |
Web links
- Official website (French)
- The Molières at france2.fr (French)
- Award winners (1987 to 2005) and background information at surlesplanches.com (French)
- Fan page with information about the awards from 1998 (French)