Nadj, who was born in a village in Vojvodina, in the former Yugoslavia, studied in Budapest before moving to France in the 80s.
This year?s Festival d?Avignon is about modernity and carrying theatrical heritage forward with one?s own stage language. This year?s programme aims to focus more on the movements of artists, rather than just words on stage. In fact, the only traditional production will be Gorky's Barbarians, directed by Eric Lacascade. Among the masters of the art performing at the festival are Vassiliev (Mozart and Salieri, Iliad) and Peter Brook (Sizwe Banzi Is Dead). Director Frédéric Fisbach will also be at the festival, with the product of a trip to Japan, featuring Japanese artists and in Japanese. Fisbach will be the festival?s main guest in 2007.
Nadj will feature in the festival with his production of Asobu, or "game" in Japanese, and Paso Doble, which he created together with sculptor and painter Miquel Barcelo. The two men?s work can also be seen on the festival poster.
The festival?s core theatre programme will be supplemented with a broad range of concerts, including one by Hungarian pianist György Szabados, invited at Nadj?s insistence.
Theatregoers who are unable to travel to Provence in July can still attend the Josef Nadj Festival in Debrecen, in the east of Hungary, in September.
Source: Csete Borbála / Színház.hu
