Johanny Bert

Johanny Bert is a French actor, director, and puppeteer.

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  • Bert trained as an actor at the Ateliers of the Comédie de St-Etienne and studied puppetry with Alain Recoing of the Théâtre aux Mains Nues, Paris. He gradually developed his own theatrical language through the works he created and the people he met while doing them, including working with props and puppet theater. In 2000, in Puy-en-Velay he founded the Compagnie Théâtre de Romette, an experimental space for creation. His company was in residence at the Théâtre Municipal in Puy-en-Velay, then at Polaris in Corbas (69). From January 2012 to December 2015, Johanny Bert was the director of the Centre Dramatique National de Montluçon – Le Fracas, after which he returned to directing and working with Compagnie Théâtre de Romette. Since 2018, Johanny Bert is an Associate Artist at the Bateau Feu, scène nationale of Dunkirk. His works that are accessible for young audiences include Le petit bonhomme à modeler (2002–2008), Les pieds dans les nuages – inspired by a plastician photographer, Robert Parkeharisson (2004–2012), Les orphelines – written by Marion Aubert (2009–2012), De Passage – written by Stéphane Jaubertie (2014-2018), Patoussalafoi – a contemporary opera by Matteo Franceschini and Philippe Dorin (2015–2016), Elle pas princesse, lui pas héros – written by Magali Mougel (2015-2017) and its American version She No Princess, He No Hero, produced by FIAF as part of 2019 TILT Kids Festival, Le Petit Bain – choreographed by Yan Raballand, and in 2020 Frissons  – written by Magali Mougel. Johanny Bert’s theater production of Une Epopée will also premiere at Bateau Feu, Scène nationale de Dunkerque in October 2020.

Magali Mougel

Magali Mougel is a playwright and drama teacher.

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  • She currently teaches at the ENSATT/National School in Lyon (France) where she was a student between 2008 and 2011. Her works have been shown on stage by Jean Pierre Baro, Anne Bisang, Philippe Delaigue, Eloi Recoing, among others. Since 2011, she has written numerous works, many specially commissioned, for specific theater companies and directors. Her works include Elle pas princesse, Lui pas héros for Johanny Bert (National Dramatical Center of Montluçon), Poudre Noire for Simon Delattre (Rodeo Theatre), and Je ne veux plus and La Nuit où le jour s’est levé for Olivier Letellier (Theatre du Phare/National Theater of Chaillot). Her writings: Erwin Motor, Devotion (finalist of the Grand Prize of Drama Literature in 2013), Guerillères ordinaires, Suzy Storck (finalist of the Grand Prize of Drama Literature in 2013), and Penthy sur la Bande, The Lulu Projekt are published by the Editions Espaces 34. Her Young Audience plays, Elle pas princesse, Lui pas héros, We just wanted you to love us, and very recently Frissons are published by the Editions Actes Sud – Heyoka Jeunesse. Many of her plays have been translated into English, German, Italian, and Spanish. Member of the Artistic Ensemble of the Theatre de Sartrouville – CDN, Magali Mougel is an Associate artist at the Scènes du Jura and at Culture Commune – Scène nationale du Bassin minier du Pas-de-Calais.

Charlotte Melly

Charlotte Melly is a French graphic designer and illustrator.

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  • She graduated from the Estienne School in graphic design and from Ensatt in scenography. She became a puppeteer in 2011 alongside artist Cyril Bourgeois. Following an international tour, she published her first graphic novel in 2017, Blanche la Colérique with the author Lison Pennec. In 2017, she joined the drawing collective Bien, monsieur, and the theater collective F71, with whom she developed live drawing for three shows: Sandwich (2017), Noire (2018), and Songbook (2018).

Laura Cappelle

Laura Cappelle is an arts writer and sociologist who lives in France.

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  • She is the Paris-based theater critic for the New York Times and covers dance for the Financial Times. Additionally, she writes a monthly column, “France/Dance,” for Dancing Times, and has contributed to the Guardian, Pointe, Dance Magazine and The Globe and Mail, among other publications. Laura Cappelle earned her PhD in sociology at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3 in 2018, with a doctoral thesis about the creation process in ballet companies. She was the dance consultant for the BAFTA-nominated 2015 docudrama Rudolf Nureyev – Dance to Freedom, directed by Richard Curson Smith. In 2020, she edited a new French-language introduction to western dance history, Nouvelle histoire de la danse en Occident (Seuil).