Shakespeare and Molière Return to Avignon with 'Hamlet' and '1, 2, 3, Poquelin'

At the 2026 Avignon Festival, classic playwrights Molière and Shakespeare are staged alongside contemporary works. Thibault Perrenoud directs an 'essential' version of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', using a new translation by Clément Camar-Mercier, with only three actors and minimal technical means, running 1 hour 30 minutes. The play is performed outdoors at different locations each day, revolving around three ceremonies: the wedding of Claudius and Gertrude, the play-within-a-play, and the funeral. Perrenoud defends his adaptation, noting that 'translation is already a betrayal.' Meanwhile, at the Carrière de Boulbon, the Belgian collective tg STAN presents '1, 2, 3, Poquelin', a 4-hour-30-minute 'Marathon Molière' compiling five farces including 'L'Avare' and 'Le Médecin malgré lui'. Founded in Antwerp thirty years ago, tg STAN previously staged 'Poquelin' (2003) and 'Poquelin II' (2017). Performers Jolente De Keersmaeker and Damiaan De Schrijver play about ten characters, cutting text but preserving Molière's original language. In the OFF section, Fanny Imbert attended Simon Falguières' 'Molière et ses masques' at Théâtre du Train Bleu. Perrenoud's 'Hamlet' runs until July 25.