Alain Maratrat (Production)
After finishing his training at INSAS (Institut National des
Arts du Spectacle) in Brussels, Alain Maratrat performed his first role in 1974
in Molière´s Dom Juan, directed by Bernard Sobel. The same year he joined
Peter Brook´s company and performed in almost all of the Centre International´s
productions – Carmen in 1980, where he was also acting coach for the
singers, Mahabharata in 1984, where he coached the company in martial
arts, and Shakespeare´s The Tempest in 1987. In 2004, he played Trigorin
in Chekhov´s The Seagull at the Vidy in Lausanne. In 2003-2004, Maratrat
presented a jubilee show written by Jean Claude Carrière with his graduating
class from INSAS in Geneva and Paris. At this time, Maratrat acted in a
number of television productions, among them Victor ou les enfants au pouvoir
by Vitrac, L´histoire du soldat by Stravinsky and Guerre blanche
directed by Philippe Lefèvre. In cinema, he has appeared in La petite
bande by Michel Deville, Golem by Amos Gitai (1990) and Lucie
Aubrac by Claude Berry. In 1997, he spent some months in the Himalayas in
Nepal, preparing a group of Tibetan actors for the film L´enfance d´un
chef by Eric Vali. In 2003, he performed the role of Vlamminck in the
full-length movie L´enquête corse, directed by Alain Berberian.
Alain Maratrat is also a theatre and opera director. In
opera, he began his career with Love for Three Oranges by Prokofiev
(Lyon, 1981; San Francisco, 1995; Ravenne, 1998). Since then, he has directed a
number of acclaimed productions including: L´étoile by Chabrier
(Edinburgh Festival, 1982); Les voyages de Monsieur Broucek, conducted by
Gilbert Amy (Lyon, 1982); Les brigands by Jacques Offenbach, conducted by
Sir John Eliot Gardiner (Saint Etienne, 1987); Passeport musical pour
Paris with Mstislav Rostropovich, for which he was the librettist (Festival
d´Evian and New York, 1991; St Petersburg, 1993); Les trois souhaits
by Martinů, conducted by Kent Nagano (Lyon, 1990); the creation of Zarzuela,
Historia de un Patio (Vienna Festival and Festival d´Avignon, 1992; Ile de
France, 1994; Lille, 1996); and Falstaff by Salieri, conducted by Jean-Claude
Malgoire at the Théâtre de l´Idéal (Tourcoing, 1996; Rennes, Orleans,
Clermont-Ferrand, 2002); he also directed and adapted the libretto for the
French creation of Harry Janos by Kodaly (Strasbourg, 1998). In
February-June 2005 he directed Il viaggio a Reims by Rossini at the
Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg with Valery Gergiev, and at the Châtelet
in Paris in December 2005. This last production won two Golden Masks for
best opera and best director, the highest Russian theatre award, and a Golden
Sofit for best opera in St Petersburg. Maratrat has had an active
career in theatre direction since 1991. Among his most important productions are
Liliom by Ferenc Molnar (1991), Staline by Gaston Salvatore
(1994), Rencontres (1995) after a year-long collective workshop, The
Impresario from Smyrna and The Dance Lesson by Goldoni with young
actors and dancers from the Rosella Hightower School of Dance (Cannes, 1996),
The Conference of Birds with the Theatre Kismett and a group of
international actors (Bari, Italy, 1998), Romeo was a Shoeshiner with
social centres in the slums of Pretoria, South Africa, (1999), A Midsummer
Night´s Dream with SPAD students at the Vidy (Lausanne, 2003), the
adaptation and direction of a version of The Three Sisters by Chekhov for
three actresses (Italy, 2004), adaptation and direction of Peer Gynt by
Ibsen (Geneva and Lausanne, 2004), adaptation and direction of The
Dispute by Marivaux at the Vidy (Lausanne, then touring to Geneva, Zurich,
Basel and other parts of Switzerland, 2005) and adaptation and direction of
Twelfth Night by Shakespeare in Berlin (2006).
Alain Maratrat has also distinguished himself in theatre as an
acting coach, applying his knowledge of martial arts to develop actors´
sensitivity. He has used this method at the International Theatre Festival in
Sao Paolo, Brazil (1993), the Fomenko Theatre (Moscow, 1994), with dancers,
actors and singers of traditional Balinese theatre (Bali, Java, 2000) and on
several other occasions with professionals, amateurs and young people on the
streets in France, the UK, the United States and Italy. Since 1999 he has
directed improvisation workshops for the Paris Conservatoire.
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