The Parisian Odeon theater had been occupied since March 4. (archives) – Louise MERESSE / SIPA
The intermittents of the show left of themselves the Odeon, famous theater in Paris that they had occupied since March 4, the starting point of a national movement, this Sunday. They evacuated the premises around 6:00 am, removing all the protest banners on the pediment and leaving only this one, “See you soon…”. “Staying at the Odeon has become a problem of confrontation with the management, that does not interest us,” said Denis Gravouil, secretary general of the CGT Spectacle. And to specify that the idea now is to “continue elsewhere, to continue to fight as long as possible”.
The movement to occupy theaters, which started from the Odeon, had spread to around a hundred theaters across France. Supported by the CGT, the intermittents of the spectacle and precarious were on the scene, at the Odeon, 24 hours a day, to demand a second blank year because of the health crisis and the withdrawal of the reform of the unemployment insurance which enters in force in July. This occupation movement had prevented, according to the management, the reopening of this theater to the public as planned from May 19 with the performances of The Glass Menagerie, a masterpiece by Tennessee Williams, directed by Ivo van Hove, with Isabelle Huppert as headliner.
“We don’t want to prevent the show”
“The director’s decision not to give the performances of The Glass Menagerie since Wednesday, May 19, this has not been tenable for us, because we want this show to take place, ”commented Denis Gravouil. “We wanted it to take place with an occupation that allows us to speak, that allows us to display banners but we don’t want to prevent the show. So we will allow the shows to resume, ”continued the union official.
Denis Gravouil is also skeptical about the cultural reopening in stages since May 19: “It’s a lure, there are a third, a quarter, a tenth of people who work (…) certain festivals are canceled or are in progress. half gauge; private theaters postponed. So, already, the reopening is not enough, it is partial ”. This movement to occupy theaters was condemned by the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot. The politician tweeted Thursday: “The time has come to stop the blockages, to allow the public to return safely to the rooms, to let artists and technicians work”.
Specific to France, the intermittent regime concerns 120,000 artists and technicians compensated each year with the condition of having worked 507 hours over twelve months. Emmanuel Macron granted them a blank year which expires in August and which was recently extended by four months.