When you hear Princeton, New Jersey, “bastion of French culture” may not be the first thought that comes to mind. (In fact, according to the 2010 US Census, only 618 people were recorded as French speakers in the city, which has a population of 28,572.) However, should you happen to visit the Princeton University campus during a particular week in late September, you may have occasion to revisit that opinion, thanks to the Seuls en Scène French Theater Festival.
Florent Masse, a senior lecturer at the university, originally from Lille, France, decided to create the festival as an opportunity to showcase the works of young, contemporary French theatremakers. With tickets to the festival free of charge, Masse hoped to create an opportunity for his French students to immerse themselves in the language outside of the classroom, saying, “Cultural immersion is extremely important for language studies.” Masse, who is also the festival’s artistic director and producer, likes to imagine that much later in his students’ lives, when they are doctors or lawyers, they will remember their exposure to French theatre, and be more receptive to this form of cultural exchange.
The first edition of the Seuls en Scène festival in 2012 was a four-day stretch of French solo shows by “emerging” artists from the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris, from which the festival derived its name. (“Seuls en Scène” translates to “One Person Shows.”) Since then, the festival has blossomed into a nine-day program, this year presenting six projects from renowned artists, several of whom made their American debuts on the Princeton stage. Masse sees the festival as a means of opening the Princeton community towards the world, and vice versa. He is particularly satisfied to have the opportunity to put French artists in dialogue with one another, and with American audiences.
A strong core audience developed over the course of the week, which created a sense of collective journey through the artistic works presented.
Audience members this year were comprised of a healthy mix of Princeton students, faculty and staff, and community members hungry for cultural entertainment—French and English speakers alike. Although most works were performed in French, they were made accessible to Anglophone audiences thanks to English supertitling. A strong core audience developed over the course of the week, which created a sense of collective journey through the artistic works presented, including common reference points and shared expectations of theater etiquette.
Masse makes selections for the festival by keeping up with contemporary French theatre through attending festivals in France, networking, and following the career developments of graduates from the Conservatoire. He also pays attention to work that is being produced by the Institut Français all over the world and the French Institute Alliance Française in New York, particularly during their Crossing the Line Festival. So far, most of the artists presented have come from France rather than Francophone communities around the world, but Masse is interested in expanding the festival’s scope in that direction in years to come.
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