Taking place on Friday February 3, starting at 8.30pm, actors and marionettes will tell the tale of Shakespeare's mystical world of woodland fairies and young love.
Atmospheric music and lighting will bring the work of L’Atelier Théâtre 24 to life in a performance suitable for young and old.
Tickets are priced €5 for adults, and €3 for children.
Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache's film Intouchables sold ten million tickets in the first three weeks but some doubt it is a good film, writes Carol Miers.
On the basis that it was refreshing, definitely so, as well as having a flare for a quirky sketch and empathy with tragedy. It unabashedly enters the private worlds of two men, one severely paralysed and a tetraplegic the other a black immigrant.
There's a male bond, from the joys of shaving, to maintaining the erotic as well as some ordeals, such as facing up to high stakes, dating women or strained familial relationships.
Building upon this unusual and true tale the directors were surprised by its popularity even while it won Tokyo's International Film Festival's best film prize.
But the storyline is quite simple as Brent Lang of the Wrap put it, François Cluzet plays the wealthy man who is disabled in a paragliding accident, while Omar Sy plays the young man from the wrong side of the tracks who he hires to help him.
One of the criticisms is of crass stereotyping yet this can be a part of the entertainment even while it has brought some strong and highly critical reviews.
If you de-construct the script and actions then you have a most unlikely couple of men sharing a stream of jokes that enables the film to send out a flow of good feelings.
In short it is difficult to imagine two men much further apart, with one the stereotypically lithe, sensual, handsome, over large, brawn over brains, a black petty criminal and the other a paralysed, middle-aged, white man, cultured in traditional tastes, titled even.
So these two cross class, race, culture, and act as counterpoints. To top this appeal, the scenario is based on a true story.
It is not a stretch too far to say that Omar Sy plays a modern day messiah in the middle of crisis ridden France, bringing desire to the undesirable, love to the loveless, smiles to the serious, beauty to tragedy and on ad infinitum.
In the event ultimately there is a commonality between men that is unbreakable. But some members of the public remarked that the strength of Omar Sy in the central role beats any flaws of stereotyping.
How then were the critical reviews framed? Karen Badt of the Huffington Post said of Intouchables: "Steeped in stereotypes (the French aristocracy with its constipated Vivaldi concerts; the black dude with his cool Earth, Wind and Fire music and sassy antics) the film seems to have sprung out of a pre-sixties era.
"This film can, of course, also be seen as part of a solid genre of films which teach upper class folks that the lower class has some merit."
But is this dull political correctness threatening small moments of happiness the film creates? How literally was the film meant to be taken? What is the role of films in this social epoch and does a film have to be a window? In other words when did it ever claim to be a realist documentary?
The assumption is that most people can't see through the stereotypes, and recognise the fantastical illusory quality of what is after all, a film. Today's sophisticated punter can hopefully recognise a certain crassness to be self-parody. Next they will say that the actor Omar Sy, who plays Driss was being exploited by portraying a character that undermined respect for his heritage and roots.
How dumb is the public expected to be to be unable to read signs within a script? When the black man break dances in front of a wheelchair bound François Cluzet it is moving because of human vulnerability, the poignant moment of pleasure in another's agility, even while Cluzet's mobility was lost before time through an accident.
It is the touching sight of an exuberance that is contagious, taken beyond any stereotypes. It seems that the public grasped this in droves even while the film failed in political correctness.
Devorah Lauter of the Los Angeles Times pointed out that some people she asked for reactions to seeing this film said racism was not an issue because it celebrates a single man who upstages all others.
This with the fact that a young black hero is still a rare phenomena in French films made him an actor's role model and a believable character.
Personally, watching this film was a really enjoyable one hundred and thirteen minutes, being unconcerned that it was not making an in depth swipe at correcting society's wrongs.
Paris' Musée d’Orsay launched its first-ever 'American friends Association' on Saturday, a move the renowned French art museum hopes will bolster its international outreach.
Members of the American Friends of Musée d’Orsay (AFMO) pledged to help raise the museum's profile among English speakers both in France and abroad in an event held at the museum’s recently refurbished premises.
via www.france24.com
DISCOVER the work of the French artist who inspired LS Lowry to draw his 'matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs'.
An exhibition of the work of Adolphe Valette, the French impressionist, is being held at the Lowry Gallery in Salford and he was amongst the first to bring Impressionism to Manchester.
Valette’s canvases are dynamic and powerful, with fog and pollution shrouding buildings, squares, and waterways, with hardly discernible figures hurrying across them, and with light sparkling through the gloom.
Less well known are his light-filled, beautifully coloured landscapes and domestic scenes painted in France, many on show for the first time.
LONDON'S Royal Academy of Arts presents a landmark exhibition focusing on Edgar Degas’s preoccupation with movement as an artist of the dance.
WHAT do you get if you take a dash of Enid-Blyton, mix in a bit of Doctor Who and head to Aix-en-Provence? A children's adventure book called Charlie Travers, Time Traveller: Operation Cézanne.
Written by Gill Baconnier, or Gigi if you follow her blog French Windows, the book starts in 1902 but our hero, Charlie, gets a bit lost, as you do, and finds himself in all sorts of odd places.
"The book is aimed at children going on holiday to Aix-en-Provence with their parents," Gill said.
"It gives them something fun and informative to read. A sort of travel guide in disguise, if you like.
"Children will have fun searching for all the places mentioned in the book and I have managed to get all the main monuments in."
DISCOVER the photographs behind many of the news headlines you see every day at the Visa Pour l’Image exhibition.
Running until 11 September, 2011 in Perpignan you can see the work of some of the world's leading photojournalists.
THE countryside and villages of the south west of France will be the backdrop for the Festival Shakespeare du Quercy 2011.
Theatre goers will be able to enjoy The Tempest in a number of locations including the medieval village of Belves, as well as with a view across the fields from Loubejac, in Dordogne.
AT the Courtauld Gallery, in London, you can explore Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge which brings together paintings, posters and prints by the artist.
The exhibits have been drawn together from international collections to celebrate a remarkable creative partnership which captured the excitement and spectacle of bohemian Paris.
In contrast to Toulouse-Lautrec, who was a member of one of France’s oldest noble families, Jane Avril was the daughter of a courtesan and at the age of 20 was taken on by the Moulin Rouge.
More on: Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at Courtauld Gallery, London
