Project

There is a place in Paris where young people from all over the world meet, study, dream of the future, and make it happen. That place is the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris. Born in the wake of the League of Nations, this utopian vision sought to preserve peace by fostering friendship among peoples. Today, there is an urgent need to revive it. War has returned to the European continent, geopolitical tensions are escalating, and divisions over identity and climate issues are multiplying. Against this backdrop, the Cité Universitaire remains a place of hope. Eight thousand students from 150 countries now live and work in 43 residences, in the heart of one of Paris’s largest parks. A global microsociety. And in the middle of this park, among these students: a theater.

Taking the helm of such a place means inheriting a certain vision of theater—one that, since Calderón and Shakespeare, has been called the theatrum mundi—the theater of the world. The Cité is its literal embodiment: a microcosm where, every day, languages, histories, and imaginations converge. The theater, at its heart, becomes a stage open to this diversity, a venue for performances in the fullest sense of the word—artistic, cultural, and political. For this first season, we hope that the programming will remain true to this truly unique venue.

There is a place in Paris where young people from all over the world meet, study,

Through hybridity and a variety of forms, the artists featured in our season—drawn from the French and international contemporary scenes - are united by their passion for the major questions facing our societies: living together despite tensions and differences, envisioning desirable futures without sacrificing the joy and power of community, and fostering a global conversation in an era when democracy is under threat.

Starting this season, the Institute for a Livable Earth will be based within our walls for several years. Born out of a national research program, it brings together researchers, artists, and students around a common question: how we can work together to preserve the conditions for a livable Earth. This marks the first time in France that a research institute has taken up residence in a theater. Alongside it, the journal Sensibilités is taking up residence. In March, for an entire month, the theater will become a hub for research and creation, bringing together doctoral students, artists, and art school students. Finally, an “Archipelago” of researchers and artists will guide and inspire us as we collectively envision and shape this space.

This theater lives in tune with its campus, its students, and its park. We work year-round to keep it open to its surroundings: the Maisons and their auditoriums, the libraries, the large lawn, and the evenings that stretch on outdoors. With the arrival of warmer weather, “Notre Printemps” will begin - a new series of events featuring highlights that will take over not only the theater but also the park and the Maisons. The beauty of a place like this is the ability to extend the stage beyond its walls - and on certain spring evenings, the entire Cité will become a theater. Each time, the invitation remains the same: to invent new forms of communal life, to foster connections, and to open the stage to those who usually watch from the other side. Finally, the mental health of young people will be a major focus throughout our season, in collaboration with several institutions near the theater.

We’re taking the helm of this theater as a duo. We’re driven by a shared conviction: this space can be open to the world’s transformations, attentive to the issues shaping it. One concept in particular will run through the seasons: habitability. Living in a city, an era, a trembling Earth—that, too, is what plays out, in its own way, on stage.

This also involves more joyful, more festive ways of coming together. Throughout the season, there will be DJ sets and concerts. It’s a way to build a sense of community, to get people and ideas moving, and to create spaces of joy in a world saturated with anxiety. A theater is also a place where we meet strangers, where we exchange ideas, where we dance - where we experience firsthand what it means to live together.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Frédérique Aït-Touati et Nathalie Vimeux

A Space for Research-Creation: Bringing Thought to the Stage

Making research-creation one of the guiding principles of our project: that is our ambition for the Théâtre de la Cité internationale, a theater unlike any other, situated at the heart of an ecosystem of thought and research. It seemed only natural to us to open it up to the pressing questions of our time, to its need for clarification, understanding, and discussion.

Turning a cultural venue into a space for thought might seem strange. Yet it is an age-old practice, rooted in the belief that mind and body, thought and the senses, are inseparable. For a long time, understanding and imagining were one and the same act: to conceive of a new world, we needed fiction, images, and scenes—forms that make it visible before making it real. The separation of knowledge and creation is a recent development, and more fragile than we think. Research-creation reconnects with this long-standing intuition: we also come to know by making, by giving form, by staging. In this context, creation becomes a form of inquiry: it shifts perspectives, puts hypotheses to the test, and creates situations where a question can be seen and discussed. For a livable world is constructed, and constructing it requires the precision of the sciences as much as the inventiveness of the arts. This work of composition—bringing together knowledge, the arts, and forms into a shared world—is something a theater can do better than any other place. Truly uniting research and creation, in the same place and through a single process, is an idea many have cherished. Here, we want to give it a home, a season, and concrete forms.

The Institute for a Livable Earth.

The theater welcomes and helps to shape this research institute for the years to come. Researchers, artists, and doctoral students work side by side there, over the long term. Its school, the Earthschool, provides training in these methods of inquiry where science and the arts advance in step.

One month, one festival, one spring.

Research also takes the form of major events, designed in collaboration with Paris Sciences Lettres University and the Research Program for a Habitable Earth led by the CNRS and the IRD. Throughout the month of March, research-creation takes center stage at the theater, where young researchers and artists collaborate on their projects. In April, the Spring of Research showcases these projects in ways to be seen and heard. And in June, the Spring of Futures opens the Institute for a Habitable Earth to the public, offering a chance to imagine other possible worlds together.

At the very top of the Maison Internationale, opening onto the terrace and the park, an entire floor is dedicated to research in progress: writing residencies, seminars, workshops, performances, and public events. People come here to write, experiment, debate, and see what research becomes when it is shared. The journal Sensibilités is in residence here. Researchers and artists gather here, guiding us as we envision this evolving space. This community, which we call l'Archipel, brings together art historian and performer Hortense Belhôte, actresses Mélanie Bestel and Judith David (from the L’Avantage du doute collective), author and director Daphné Biiga Nwanak, artist Fanny de Chaillé, literary scholar Raphaëlle Guidée, writer Maylis de Kerangal, historian and musician Hervé Mazurel, philosopher Baptiste Morizot, director Émilie Rousset, set designer, musician, and illustrator Stephan Zimmerli, and, each year, a resident of the Cité.

A theater can be all of these things: a stage and a tool for research; a place where thinking and creating become one.

The theatre thrives not only on its performances, but also on the many cultural events held throughout the season. A wide-ranging programme accompanies the productions and invites everyone to experience the theatre as a space for encounter, dialogue and experimentation. Meet-the-artist sessions, theatre and dance workshops, festive events, participatory projects and discovery tours: these are all opportunities to engage with the works in new ways and to make the creative process a space for exchange, reflection and empowerment. To this end, the public relations team forges links and runs projects with residents of the Maisons de la Cité, partner secondary schools, students from universities and art schools, and young people from all walks of life.

You are most welcome! 

The Theatre benefits from a unique environment where students, researchers and residents from all over the world come together every day. This diversity enriches its entire cultural programme. The activities on offer are aimed at residents of the Cité, students, schools and universities, partner organisations, as well as anyone wishing to discover contemporary arts by taking the time to engage with them.

Particular attention is paid to teenagers and young adults. The theatre aims to support the younger generations as they discover the performing arts and to provide spaces where everyone can express their feelings, develop their creativity and share their perspective on the world.

Because mental health issues play such a vital role in young people’s lives today, a specific programme is being developed in collaboration with health instituts nearby the theatre. Artistic workshops and group sessions offer young people experiencing mental distress spaces for self-expression, support and creativity.

Audiences are also invited to play an active role in artistic projects. Several works call for their participation, involving them in the research and creation processes.

The theatre also reaffirms its commitment to the local community. Numerous partnerships have been established with schools, universities, and social and cultural organisations in Paris’s 13th and 14th arrondissements, as well as in neighbouring municipalities. These collaborations enable the theatre to organise events tailored to each audience.

Residents of the Cité internationale play a key role in this initiative, taking part in theatre and dance workshops and participatory projects run with guest artists. They will also be able to get involved in the theatre’s activities by joining various groups dedicated to discussion, reflection and even curating (Theatre Team, Resident Curator Team, etc.).

More than just a programme of events, the Theatre’s cultural initiatives form an integral part of its artistic vision. They invite audiences to experience the theatre as an open, welcoming and collaborative space for creativity, where works are discovered both on stage and through the discussions they spark.

Find out about all the events here