Editions des Saints-Pères took over L’Avant-Scène Théâtre, a publishing house which, since 1949, has accompanied theater news twice a month with the publication of plays on display, accompanied by analytical files. Philippe Tesson had been its director from 2000. At the head of L’Avant-Scène Théâtre, he had developed the Quatre-Vents collection (unpublished plays, adaptations, new translations, etc.), published an Anthologie du Théâtre in five volumes, launched the Figures collection (intended for artist biographies) and initiated digital access to a few works.
“I see life as a theatre, and I live as if I were in the theatre. Finally, I am an artist in my own way. This is how Philippe Tesson spoke of his existence full of culture. Her long career as a journalist and critic will have led her for nearly half a century to scour the theaters and write about hundreds of plays.
After his disappearance on February 1, the Éditions des Saints-Pères decided to pay tribute to him by publishing this September 20 a collection entitled A theater in freedom bringing together 300 of his dramatic critics. They were selected by Armelle Héliot, former critic of Le Quotidien de Paris and Le Figaro. The chronological order that she favored makes this collection “a true historical testimony to the last fifty years of theatrical creation”.