One summer night

a theatre is born...

It’s a true story but it reads like a play….

which would have the title: The Artist and the Entrepreneur

​

The artist is  Jean-Claude Brialy.
The entrepreneur, Jacqueline Franjou.

​

The year is 1984 and The Entrepreneur (Jacqueline Franjou), during her tenure as a municipal councillor and vice-president of the Ramatuelle tourism board, is looking to create a prestigious cultural event for the region. As luck would have it, a legendary French thespian (Jean-Claude Brialy) is looking for a house on this Mediterranean peninsula. The Entrepreneur contacts The Artist with an idea: 

To start a festival in Ramatuelle, a festival in tribute to Gérard Philipe

It's now  April 1985.

The Ramatuelle town hall and municipal council back the idea of creating a theatre and performing arts festival. Riding a tremendous wave of enthusiasm, the Ramatuelle Festival comes into being 3 August 1985...barely three months since the idea first germinated. Jean-Claude Brialy begins putting together the programming while Jacqueline Franjou explores partnerships with the business community that will allow the Ramutuelle Festival to thrive over the years. There remains only one hitch: Ramatuelle lacks a suitable venue for such a major undertaking. An "SOS Théâtre" appeal is launched by the town hall and a man named Serge Mège rises to the challenge, transforming a modest field interspersed with planted terraces into a world-class theatre…in a mere 44 days! It is in this lyrical venue, behind the lovers’ fig tree, with a view stretching all the way to the sea, that the project between The Artist and The Entrepreneur takes shape.
 

Created in 1985, the Ramatuelle Festival was originally imagined as a seasonal diversion in this small provençal village known for its beauty and for the preservation of its natural attributes. Thirty-three years later, the Festival is known around the world. A vast array of media coverage in France and abroad has helped enshrine the Ramatuelle Festival as one of the great events of the summer season.

​

The increasing public attendance and the renewed participation of corporate sponsors as well as institutional investors (Conseil Général, Conseil Régional, Ministère de la Culture, DRAC…) attest to the Festival’s consistently high quality, both in terms of hospitality and programming, as well to the broad appeal of the programming, which ranges from French song and humour to classical music and contemporary theatre.

In May 2007, Michel Boujenah succeeded Jean-Claude Brialy as the Festival’s artistic director.