Robert Cantarella

Born in Marseille, Robert Cantarella trained at the Beaux-Arts and then at the École de Chaillot under Antoine Vitez. From the mid-1980s, he founded the Théâtre du Quai de la Gare with Grégoire Ingold. Actor, director and filmmaker, his career has taken every path and resolutely champions contemporary writing. He has directed previously unstaged texts by Jean-Luc Lagarce, Noëlle Renaude, Christophe Honoré, and above all Philippe Minyana, with whom he maintains a lasting artistic companionship.

This loyalty is also found in his stage work, carried out with long-standing collaborators, as well as in the relationships he builds with the venues he directs or supports as an associate artist and teacher: the CDN de Dijon, the Centquatre-Paris and the Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne.

A close observer of the theatre scene, he is interested in philosophy and contemporary art. Since 2009, he has given voice again to Gilles Deleuze's seminars with Faire le Gilles. He is also the author of theoretical texts and contributes to numerous journals.

Among his recent initiatives, Aura comprise, presented at the 2025 Avignon Festival with Olivia Rosenthal, offers a collective and inclusive exploration of the notion of aura, blending literature, cinema and live cooking.