Sunday 19 July 2009

Morning coffee

Rue de la République
A typical morning treat for festival-goers in Avignon is to sit down at a terrace and have a coffee while reading press reviews of the plays given the night before. All French national daily and weekly papers have full-time critics reporting on the Avignon theatre festival, it's a major cultural event. For festival-goers, deciding what to see in the jungle of some 900 shows presented here can be a daunting project. Of course they can be drawn by an author or play they know, by a colourful poster or a teaser they see in the street, but word-of-mouth and press critics are major factors in the decision making. The buzz, which can have a make or break effect, circulates increasingly via the Internet too. Two websites cover the local cultural life : avignews.com and made in avignon.com. Excellent reviews can also be found on Rue du Théatre and La Théatrothèque. Unfortunately, all are in French only.
I'm sure many of my foreign readers would be happy just to sit there and sip the atmosphere.

Le bonheur du festivalier, c'est de s'installer le matin à la terrasse d'un café pour lire dans la presse du jour les critiques des spectacles donnés à Avignon la veille. Tous les grands quotidiens nationaux envoient des correspondants au festival pour remplir leurs pages "Culture" de l'été. Face à la multitude des spectacles disponibles tant dans le In que dans le Off (plus de 900), le grand problème des spectateurs est de choisir quoi voir. Bien sûr on peut se laisser tenter par une affiche, une présentation d'acteurs dans la rue, par un auteur ou une pièce que l'on connait, mais le bouche-à-oreille et la critique sont des facteurs de décision majeurs. Le buzz, qui peut lancer ou tuer un spectacle, se crée de plus en plus via le web. Deux sites internet locaux présentent toute l'année l'actualité culturelle d' Avignon : avignews.com et made in avignon.com. Vous trouverez aussi d'excellentes critiques sur les sites Rue du Théatre et La Théatrothèque.

13 comments:

Lethéâtreestdanslarue said...

Bon, c'est toi qui voit...

Michel Benoit said...

Une bien grande somme de lectures à projeter dans un temps festif si bref...

Owen said...

I had no idea just how big it is... hope you are able to enjoy a few of the plays, but maybe not all 900 ?!? And I hope the national news will do a story about a remarkable blog in Avignon that is also getting the word about Avignon out to people all over the world...

Cheers Nath, hope you're not getting too exhausted with all the action down there !

Diederick Wijmans said...

Oh...yes, I know exactly what you mean, Nathalie! I have my early sunday morning coffee always on one of the small terraces here on the lakeside, except that Avignon has so much more to offer on a cultural level. (The good life).
Buona domenica!!

chri said...

Vous remercier sincèrement pour les images que vous nous montrez et aussi tous les liens que vous nous donnez!!! Merci, donc, Nathalie!

jeff said...

67O followers !... Ton blog a pris une dimension...! ! !
J'irais bien m'assoir à la terrasse de ce café pour y discuter, en tête à tête, avec une inconnue, une amie, une personne qui m'est chère... Je m'y perd un peu avec cette foultitude...!
Biz...!
A bientôt nathalie !...:)

Anonymous said...

That person is doing the single thing I used to actually look forward to doing and I loved doing it.

Smoking a cigarette, drinking coffee and reading the paper.

I did it so much that I ruined both lungs. They can't even do a transplant as both lungs are shot. So I get by huffing and puffing and waddling along like a slow motion duck on steroids. But I envy those immortals who do it anyway.

Your visit will count and help me Make History. Pick a Peck of Pixels

Lynne with an e said...

What a wonderful dilemma-- poring over reviews and lists, sipping coffee, deciding which theatre event to attend.

Amy J said...

Your photos really capture the spirit of Avignon. Sorry I am missing the festival, but so glad that you are bringing it to us!

Louis la Vache said...

Photos like this make «Louis» wish he were still living in la belle France...

Bianca Rivers said...

Hey just wanted to drop by and say I love your blog and your photos. Your blog was the first to inspire me to post my own photos (not nearly as good as yours) in a blog. So thank you and I'd really appreciate it if you would stop in at my blog every now and then.

comeandwaste.blogspot.com

Keep posting these amazing pics!!

-Bianca

Unknown said...

Great quote. So often when I travel I would rather sit and sip the atmosphere than anything that could be possibly found on the menu. Those chairs look comfy =)

Elizabete Mattos said...

Gosto muito de seus Posts. São lindos

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