Announcing the 2026 Theatre & New Forms Grantees

Production by Company Zirlib | Concept, Text, and Direction by Mohamed El Khatib | With Annie Boisdenghien, Micheline Boussaingault, Marie-Louise Carlier, Chille Deman, Martine Devries, Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Yasmine Hadj Ali, Salimata Kamaté, Jacqueline Juin, Jean Paul Sidolle, Gaby Suffrin | Dramaturgy by Camille Nauffray | Set Design by Frédéric Hocké | Video by Emmanuel Manzano | In Collaboration with Mathilde Chadeau, Vassia Chavaroche 

The Secret Lives of Old People is a sensitive and uninhibited celebration of love and desire in later life. Following its immense success at the 2024 Festival d’Avignon, this production confronts societal expectations about aging by placing a cast of non-professional actors—all in their 70s and 80s—at the center of the stage. These elderly men and women share their own lived experiences, exploring how intimacy is reinvented when freed from social pressure. 

Mohamed El Khatib is one of the most singular voices in contemporary French theater, celebrated for a “documentary-theater” approach that has made him a mainstay of the Festival d’Avignon and the Festival d’Automne. Despite his critical acclaim in Europe, El Khatib has yet to be fully discovered in the United States, making this extensive upcoming tour a landmark cultural event. Sparked by a curatorial delegation to France organized by Villa Albertine, this ambitious multi-city journey marks a long-awaited introduction to his work, bringing a major French production to the forefront of the American scene. 

Learn more about The Secret Lives of Old People here. 

Image by Yohanne Lamoulère and Tendance Floue

Concept, Direction, and Set Design by Philippe Quesne | Original Texts by Laura Vazquez | With Isabelle Angotti, Céleste Brunnquell, Marc Susini, Veronika Vasilyeva-Rije, Marc Chevillon | Costumes by Anna Carraud, assisted by Mirabelle Perot | Stage management and artistic collaboration of François Boulet, Marc Chevillon | Production by Alice Merer / Vivarium Studio | Artistic collaboration of Mathilde Chadeau, Vassia Chavaroche  

The Paradox of John, created with poet Laura Vazquez, explores the place of art in daily life through a group of friends setting up a gallery. Reviving the spirit of his early work, the play depicts the tension between the solitary “melancholic inventor” and the need for community. It is a polyphonic and visual composition that remains intimately close to its audience. 

A world-renowned visual artist and director, Philippe Quesne is a master of “ecological theater,” creating dreamlike landscapes where humor and melancholy coexist. A mainstay of major international festivals, his work is celebrated for its unique, hand-crafted aesthetic and singular vision. This ambitious tour marks Quesne’s long-awaited return to the United States, extending well beyond traditional coastal hubs to reach diverse new audiences across the country. This major cultural exchange brings a foundational figure of the French scene back to the American stage, sparking a nationwide dialogue on the power of the imagination. 

Learn more about Philippe Quesne and his company Vivarium Studio here. 

Image by Martin Argyroglo

Directed by Caroline Guiela Nguyen | Artistic Collaboration by Claire Calvi | Set Design by Alice Duchange | Costume Design by Benjamin Moreau | Sound and Music Design by Antoine Richard | Composition by Teddy Gauliat-Pitois | Dramaturgy and Supertitles by Jérémie Scheidler and Manon Worms | Translation by Duc Duy Nguyen and Thi Thanh Thu Tô 

Presented at the Avignon Festival in 2017, Caroline Guiela Nguyen’s play was one of the standout revelations of the lineup and won over both the French and international press. This warm reception paved the way for an international tour across Europe and Asia. 

Set somewhere between the end of the Indochina War and the twilight of the 20th century, Saïgon is a sprawling melodrama set in a restaurant that exists simultaneously in 1956 Saigon and 1996 Paris. The play gives voice to Vietnamese exiles, weaving together stories of love and longing for a country left behind. Through a hyper-realistic set and a soundtrack of karaoke classics, the characters navigate the bittersweet reality of exile, making Saïgon a landmark work that reconnects the artist with her own cultural history. 

As the Director of the Théâtre National de Strasbourg and a former Villa Albertine resident, Caroline Guiela Nguyen is a leading voice in contemporary French theater. Her work is celebrated for its cinematic stagecraft and deeply moving narratives that explore the intersections of identity, memory, and history. Since its acclaimed debut, Saïgon has toured the world to immense praise. This long-awaited U.S. premiere marks the first time American audiences will have the opportunity to experience this landmark production. 

Learn more about Saïgon here. 

Image by Jean-Louis Fernandez

Cuervo is a theatrical reading based on the autobiographical accounts of the artists’ father. Imprisoned in 1974, Oscar Cuervo Castro staged a new play every week in concentration camp dining halls, transforming his captivity into a space for collective resilience. Fifty years later, his sons returned to Chile to film the sites of his detention. This project interweaves their father’s narrative with modern documentary footage, showing how art can resist the darkest forms of oppression. 

French-Chilean artists Cosme and Oscar Castro blend cinema and theater to explore memory and legacy, continuing a family tradition of resistance born during Pinochet’s dictatorship. Through a documentary-style aesthetic, they bridge historical archives with contemporary performance to honor their father’s legendary work. This tour brings a vital story of courage and intergenerational transmission to American audiences, fostering a crucial dialogue on the enduring power of artistic resistance. 

Learn more about Cuervo here.  

Image by Rostollan Sinet

Conception, Text, Music, Direction & Choreography by Joris Lacoste | Set Design & Lighting by Florian Leduc | Collaboration in Dance from Solène Wachter | Music & Sound Collaboration by Léo Libanga | Costumes by Carles Urraca | Performance & Contribution to Writing by Daphné Biiga Nwanak, Camille Dagen, Flora Duverger, Jade Emmanuel, Thomas Gonzalez, Léo Libanga, Ghita Serraj, Tamar Shelef, Lucas Van Poucke 

Nexus of Adoration is a “pop-liturgical” performance that imagines a new form of worship centered on difference and nonconformity. Nine performers sing, dance, and speak in a zany, spellbinding ritual that celebrates global heterogeneity rather than smoothing it over. Moving between a free-wheeling inventory and a prosaic oratorio, the show employs a kaleidoscopic aesthetic to create a “religion” of diversity, inviting the audience into a mischievous and expansive world of formal beauty. 

Visionary author, composer, and director Joris Lacoste is celebrated for his meticulous exploration of language and sound through hybrid performances that defy traditional categories. A staple of the European avant-garde for years, this presentation marks a significant milestone: his very first time presenting work in the United States. This highly anticipated U.S. premiere introduces American audiences to one of the most innovative and singular voices in contemporary theater. The project invites the discovery of a truly unique poetic language, fostering a dialogue on inclusion and utopia through the lens of world-class performance art.  

Learn more about Nexus of Adoration and Joris Lacoste here.  

Image by Raynaud de Lage

Le Soleil pour aïeul is a solo stage adaptation of Violaine Huisman’s novel The Book of Mother. Adapted, translated, and directed by the author herself, the piece blends monologue and movement to explore the raw complexities of  memory, illness, and maternal identity. This hybrid creation transforms lyrical prose into a physical landscape, offering a visceral exploration of the bonds that define us. 

This project brings together an exceptional interdisciplinary team of French and American masters. Led by novelist Violaine Huisman and renowned choreographer Kimberly Bartosik, the production features a stellar creative team including visual artist Robert Gober, set designer Christine Jones, and lighting designer Roderick Murray. This collaboration represents a unique bridge between French literary sensibilities and American contemporary dance and visual arts. 

As a creative grant project, the initiative highlights a deep artistic co-creation. The production marks Violaine Huisman’s directorial debut, adapting and staging her own highly personal story to add a rare layer of intimacy and artistic risk. Following a key residency in 2026, the project is building toward a world premiere in 2027, fostering a multi-disciplinary dialogue between French literature and American contemporary performance. 

Click here to read more about the original novel.  

From Sky to Earth is a new interdisciplinary work developed through a residency-based exchange. Created in direct dialogue with architecture, the project combines vertical dance, site-responsive choreography, and live improvised music. Performers Antoine Le Menestrel and George Lewis develop movement and sound through close collaboration, exploring how the physical resonance of a building influences both the dancer’s path and the musician’s notes. 

This site-specific performance transforms the perception of the urban environment through high-level artistic innovation. By fostering a direct collaboration between a French vertical dance company and a leading American jazz figure, the project offers a powerful experience that engages audiences outside traditional theater walls, highlighting the creative potential of architectural space and shared improvisation. 

Antoine Le Menestrel is a pioneer of vertical dance and a world-renowned free climber. As the Artistic Director of Lézards Bleus, he transforms urban architecture into a poetic stage, moving across facades with a unique blend of athleticism and grace. He is joined by James Brandon Lewis, an acclaimed U.S. jazz composer and saxophonist celebrated for his technical mastery and deep, soulful improvisation. This collaboration brings together two masters of space and sound. 

Learn more about Antoine Le Menestrel and his company here and about James Brandon Lewis here. 

Antoine Le Menestrel & James Brandon Lewis © Nathalie Sternalski & Eva Kapanadze

Written and directed by Eva Doumbia, Le iench (slang for “The Dog”) is the centerpiece of an ambitious, multi-stage collaboration with Spelman College. This initial phase focuses on the linguistic and artistic adaptation of the play: Eva will work closely with a translator and Spelman students through dedicated workshops to refine the English text. Concurrently, she will lead the casting process for a future U.S. production. The ultimate goal of this partnership is for Eva to restage the play with an all-American cast and to gift the original set to Spelman College, ensuring the work can continue to tour across the United States.  

A prominent figure in French theater, Eva Doumbia is an author and director whose work explores the intersections of race, gender, and class. Of Malian and Ivorian descent, she founded the company La Part du Pauvre and is known for her “theater of urgency”—a style that blends sociological precision with poetic flair. Her work consistently amplifies voices often marginalized in the national narrative. 

Learn more about Company La Part du Pauvre and Le iench / The Dog here. 

Image by Arnaud Bertereau

Based on an original idea by Florient Jousse | Written Collaboratively | Directed by Florient Jousse | With Big Chief Juan Pardo, Frédérique Madia, Zélito Déliron, Marién Torres Lopez, Ivelisse Diaz, Florient Jousse, Featuring the Voice of Lawson Ota 

Former Villa Albertine resident Florient Jousse is a Reunionese actor and director whose documentary theater practice explores the “world-island” concept. He specializes in a “patchwork” aesthetic, creating cross-cultural echoes between isolated territories through music, language, and movement. 

Flamboyants! results from an exchange between Reunion Island, New Orleans, and Puerto Rico. The performance brings together Big Chief Juan Pardo and a cast of American and Puerto Rican performers to explore insularity and resilience. This multilingual show weaves together Creole, French, English, and Spanish to illustrate Bulbancha—a land of many tongues—and celebrates the imagination as a bridge between worlds.  

This 48-day tour across numerous U.S. states is the culmination of a multi-year journey supported by Villa Albertine from its very inception. 

Click here to learn more about Flamboyants! And Company Tilawcis. 

Image by Kim Welsh

This project unites four masters of experimental performance: director Aurélien Bory (France), known for his visual and physical theater; multidisciplinary artist Phil Soltanoff (USA), who holds deep ties to the French avant-garde; versatile puppeteer and performer Steven Wendt (USA); and sound designer Stéphane Dardé (France). Together, they form a collective dedicated to investigating the intersection of human presence and technological landscapes.

The Other is a theatrical investigation into how human identity intersects with technology. Focusing on experimental sound generation, the artists repurpose obsolete mechanical and electroacoustic devices to explore the dialogue between people and machines.  

Explore the following links to learn more about Aurélien Bory and Compagnie 111, Phil Soltanoff, and Steven Wendt. 

Image by Stéphane Chipeaux Dardé