UPDATE: The 2020 Festival d'Avignon has been cancelled. In an announcement posted on Twitter this past Monday the 13th, administrators claimed that they "shared in the hope for some time now that the Festival would be permitted, but the circumstances have forced a change in plans. Our work is now to preserve and create the future of the @FestivalAvignon."
Eros and Thanatos are a mythological couple which represent love and death. This theme was decided on long before the advent of Coronavirus. 45 works from 25 countries are programmed into the 74th edition of the Festival d'Avignon. La Cour d'Honneur, The Festival's traditional main stage, will begin with a dance work by Dimitris Papaioannou, whose Great Tamer was brought to BAM this past year. Other productions include a Lithuanian Othello from director Oskaras Korsunovas, an adaptation of Sartre's Freud by Ivo van Hove, and a new work by Catalan theatre maker Angélica Liddell, who has a habit of pushing even Avignon's artistic boundaries.
Py says that he is taking the advice of health administrators very seriously, and will continue to take their advice over the coming weeks. Health officials will ultimately decide the outcome. Py is remaining flexible with everything, including the Festival dates, up for negotiation. A final verdict on the nature of this year's Festival can be anticipated sometime in the coming weeks.
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