Francesca Polionato, daughter of Italian immigrants and now director of the Théâtre du Merlan, sees Marseille with its cosmopolitan population and hot-headed youth as a breeding ground of singular talents. She first started live performance as a teenager in Nantes. A period teaching special needs children strengthened her faith in the performing arts as a bond that can show us how to live together. Meetings with choreographers like Maguy Marin and close observation of Pina Bausch’s work set her on the path to her vocation. Today that vocation takes perfect form on the stage of the Théâtre du Merlan. It has become not only a venue for productions of all kinds but also a hive of activity where the seven partner artists can get help for producing works in situ. One example is Nathalie Pernette’s Sous la peau, scheduled for January 2018. The Théâtre du Merlan, in Marseille’s 14th arrondissement, is a beacon for the neighbourhood’s residents. A breath of fresh air for a generation looking for its own codes, pleasures and values. And finding them here. As part of the upcoming MP 2018 culture fest, due to start on St. Valentine’s Day, the theatre is hosting Gyptis & Protis, an exhibition of photographs that should shed light on what Marseille lads and lasses hold dear.
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