This Friday, November 18, at the end of the day, the official fiftieth anniversary ceremony allowed us to go through, in particular, the history of the Alesian cultural establishment.
“We’re going to cross fifty years of theater history in one go! Fasten your seatbelts, it’s starting…” The head of communication at Le Cratère, André Bonneau, on the occasion of the celebration, this Friday, November 18, at the At the beginning of the afternoon, of the half century of the emblematic cultural establishment of Alès, the retrospective of the building attacks, with great reinforcement of archives projected in the great room. Which led him to invite his architect, Pierre Raoux, who is now 85 years old, to the stage. According to his memories and anecdotes, he returns to the “strategem” established in 1970: betting on “volumes that allow it to become a National Stage and save on equipment”, assuming that the municipality of the time would buy them. , to fit the budget he set for his office.
National stage, the Cratère became one in 1991. “One of the first labeled stages in France, and the first in Languedoc-Roussillon”, underlines the director Olivier Lataste, who succeeded Denis Lafaurie last year, after thirty years in this position. “Le Cratère is today one of the most outstanding theaters in the south of France, in terms of its equipment and programming.” “He does his job well,” says Max Roustan, mayor of Alès. He tells her about the evolutions of the theater that led, he says, to “Christophe Rivenq’s wonderful idea of putting together a great file” so that the Agglomeration obtains the French Capital of Culture 2024 seal ”.
More than a million spectators came to the Crater
In front of the public, the speakers evoke, in turn, the epic of the Crater. The chairman of the board of directors, Régis Cayrol, also maintains it. He addresses the architect, salutes him for having built “a magnificent flagship of culture”, through which “more than a million spectators” have also passed. He then also pays tribute to Denis Lafaurie, who “made the crater what it is today.”
The future of this “cultural lighthouse” is then up to the president of Alès Agglo to talk about it. In particular, the renovation project, scheduled for 2024. This, “to go even further in the use of this place and increase its national and international opening”, indicates Christophe Rivenq.
Follow “a magical buffet, with a bit of circus”
The speeches are coming to an end and André Bonneau is back on the attack. Briefly. He invites the public to go to the hall, where he awaits “a magical buffet, with a bit of circus.” The moment is pleasant, in the presence of magicians, therefore, and punctuated by the artistic and acrobatic performance, with the ribbon, of the Alésienne Lucie Muller.
The crater then goes back to its normal life. That of your programming. Subsequently, the Jacquard Brothers do, in fact, perform on the main stage. In the heart of Alès, the show goes on and on.