Vincent Boussard Theatre Director

A look back on a journey of human and artistic exploration.

BY JEAN-JACQUES GROLEAU.

 Twenty years already! Way back in 2000, Purcell’s Dido  and Eneas, one of the jewels of the repertoire. Vincent Boussard, equally passionate about theatre and music, was embarking upon a promising career as an opera director. A true man of music and theatre, a combination of instinct and intelligence, he rapidly established himself as one of the major figures on the European opera scene. We met at La Monnaie in Brussels, on the occasion of “Frühlings Erwachen”  (Spring Awakening) and we met again at each essential stage of our professional lives, each following his own original path in the world of theatre yet always, from near or afar, attentive to the other’s career path. This is undoubtedly why Vincent called me to accompany him in this account of the first two decades of his career. This interview is an opportunity to reflect and take stock of his work and artistic commitments. Together, we will recall the decisive encounters that have marked him, his loyalty to his team, his taste and his visceral attachment to the artisanal and empirical dimension of theatre practice, but also his dramaturgical needs, his desire to touch beauty and bring emotions to the surface, etc. His theatre is made up of encounters, an immersion in the intimacy of situations and in the viscera of music, to which Vincent relies with absolute dedication.

(The opening lines of the interview featured in the book).