“Whew!” We sigh at Lucernaire, in the 6th arrondissement. After months of negotiations, the owner, Xavier Pryen, the general director of Editions de l’Harmattan, chose to sell this emblematic place to the general director of Adhema, Maxence Gaillard, actor and producer.
The latter, who played Louis Blériot in Le roi des pâquerettes, the play by Bérangère Gallot and Sophie Nicollas, at the Théâtre de l’Œuvre, is part of the theater community. The existing team supervised since 2015 by Benoît Lavigne will therefore remain. The cost for the funds and walls would amount to between 7 and 8 million euros.
Maxence Gaillard’s desire is to perpetuate the spirit and dynamics of the place created by Christian Le Guillochet and his wife Luce Berthommé in 1968 with the support of Laurent Terzieff. With 1,300 square meters of three theater and cinema rooms, a restaurant, a bookstore and an exhibition gallery, it was awarded the National Art and Essay Center label in 1984.
For his part, despite an offensive campaign, Hugues Leforestier actor and director who is part of the Molières academy and vice-president of the Avignon Off festival who was in the running saw his offer rejected.
Xavier Pryen bought the Lucernaire in 2004. A breeding ground for young talents, welcoming companies and drama schools, this “house of permanent creation”, said Eugène Ionesco, receives more than 300,000 people per year. In addition to Laurent Terzieff, he has also seen Catherine Hiegel, Sylvie Joly, Denis Lavant, Judith Magre, Gérard Depardieu, Michael Lonsdale and Dany Boon pass through. In 2019, he celebrated his fiftieth birthday. Caroline Verdu, the president of the National Union of Private Theater praised its “very good financial health”. He knew how to overcome the Covid crisis and the strikes. Maxence Gaillard will take up his position in mid-February 2024.