Description
Born in 1957 in Marseille, Robert Cantarella trained at the Marseille School of Fine Arts. He was a student of Antoine Vitez at the École du Théâtre National de Chaillot.
In 1983, he founded the Théâtre du Quai de la Gare with Grégoire Ingold, and in 1985, he created the Compagnie des Ours with the aim of introducing or reintroducing 20th-century authors. In 1987, he premiered Inventaires by Philippe Minyana. The play was an immediate success—touring in over 50 cities in France and abroad—and marked the beginning of a friendship and collaboration with the author. Cantarella went on to direct several of Minyana’s works, including Les Petits Aquariums (1989), Les Guerriers (1991), Drames Brefs 1 (1996), Anne-Laure et les fantômes (1999), and Pièces (2001). Together, they co-directed Christophe Huysman’s Le Sang chaud de la terre.
Between 1989 and 2007, Robert Cantarella directed Le Voyage by Henry Bernstein, Divertissements touristiques by Noëlle Renaude, Sourire des mondes souterrains by Lars Norén, Le Siège de Numance by Cervantes at the Avignon Festival, J’étais dans ma maison et j’attendais que la pluie vienne by Jean-Luc Lagarce, Sa Maison d’été by Jane Bowles, Uncle Vanya by Chekhov, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Samedi, dimanche et lundi by Eduardo De Filippo, Les Apparences sont trompeuses by Thomas Bernhard, Werther by Jules Massenet (his first opera production), Le Chemin de Damas by August Strindberg, and Hyppolite by Robert Garnier at the 2007 Avignon Festival.
Since 1993, Robert Cantarella has also regularly taught, both in France and abroad, notably in Berlin, Cannes, Avignon, Rabat, Lausanne, and at La Fémis in Paris.
In 1997, Robert Cantarella co-authored the manifesto For Training in Stage Directing, published by Entre/Vues. In 1999, he created « Theatres and Writings Association » with the aim of producing and publishing a journal titled Frictions, promoting reflection and research in the field of performance.
Robert Cantarella was appointed director of the Centre Dramatique National of Dijon in July 2000. Upon leaving Dijon, he published the book It’s Humans We Need with Théâtrales Editions.
In 2004, he published his first fiction work, Le Chalet, with Lignes editions, directed by Michel Surya, and in 2005, he directed his first documentary, Carrosserie.
In 2006, for the production of Philippe Minyana’s ça va, he directed « The Road, » a one-hour fictional film.
From December 2005 to March 2010, he was co-director of CENTQUATRE in Paris, an artist residency center that they built over four years. He created the CENQUATREVUE, an online and paper journal. In addition, he regularly contributes to literary, theoretical, or poetic journals such as Vertigo, Lignes, Fusée, Communication, Frictions, and If.
In 2012, he created two contemporary works, one by Noëlle Renaude and another by Christophe Honoré, notably presented at the Avignon Festival. He also revived Inventaires by Philippe Minyana with the same cast 25 years after the original production.
In 2014, he premiered a text by Dea Loher in France, and in 2015, a new work commissioned from Christophe Honoré, Violentes femmes.
In 2015, he began a theatrical series in five episodes centered around the figure of Faust, co-written with five authors. Season 2 of Notre Faust premiered at the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers in 2017.
In 2017, he directed a short fiction film co-written with Stéphane Bouquet, Fais-moi plaisir.
Since 2009, he has been reviving Gilles Deleuze’s seminars in a project titled Faire le Gilles.
ROBERT CANTARELLA