Diphtong

Hubert Colas is an author, stage director, and set designer.
He sets up Diphtong Cie in 1988 and stages a number of his own works (Temporairement épuisé, Nomades, La Brûlure, La croix des oiseaux, Sans Faim... published by Actes Sud Papiers). Temporairement épuisé is key in establishing his reputation as one of the leading writers and directors of his generation.

As well as writing himself, from around 1998, Hubert Colas starts to explore work by Witold Gombrowicz (Mariage), Christine Angot (Nouvelle Vague and La fin de l'amour), Sarah Kane (Cleansed and 4.48 Psychosis), Martin Crimp (Face to the wall and Advice to Iraqi Women), Sonia Chiambretto (Mon Képi Blanc, Chto Interdit aux moins de 15 ans). In March 2005, he translates and directs Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Théâtre National de Marseille - La Criée, which is then performed again at the 59th Festival d'Avignon.
By virtue of his constant drive to find new approaches to texts, Hubert Colas pays tribute to the diversity of theatrical writing. But it’s moment of performance that is at the centre of his preoccupations. All the work that goes into research and repetitions is entirely directed towards the exchange to come : meeting the audience. His approach to stage direction is full-frontal and unambiguous.

Hubert Colas sets up montévidéo, a creative centre in Marseille dedicated to contemporary writing and improvised music, along with the musician Jean-Marc Montera, in January 2001. In creating montévidéo, he wishes to offer today’s texts a unique resonance, and to prioritise the research and decompartmentalisation of different forms of artistic expression

He establishes the international festival actOral in 2002. Every year, actOral pays tribute to writers whose technique subscribes to fields as varied as theatre, novel, poetry, and essay writing.... whilst questioning and boldly redefining the notion of contemporary and stage writing.

In 2007 and 2008, he becomes an associate author at the Théâtre National de La Colline, where he produces his last performance of his work sans faim & sans faim ... (2) in March 2008. Then in November, he produces Face au Mur by Martin Crimp. In 2009, he becomes an associate artist at the Lieu Unique in Nantes.

His new work Le Livre d’Or de Jan will be performed at the Festival d’Avignon 2009. In November 2009, he will produce 12 Soeurs slovaques, the last par of the Sonia Chiambretto’s trilogy 12 Soeurs slovaques at the Théâtre de la Cité internationale à Paris.

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PRESS

Hubert Colas, the art of directing

‘Whether directing classics or contemporary works, Hubert Colas never fails to make his mark with powerful sets that leave us with a lasting impression. Strangely, sometimes we forget what the plot’s about, but what remains with us, are the images, which speak for themselves. He does nothing – neither strange or beautiful - just for the sake of it. He is there as a director, a man there to guide us to the heart of the text, to understand it, to act out and imagine its scenography.’
Armelle Héliot, blog Le Figaro, November 2008

‘Hubert Colas, responsible for decor and direction here, is of today’s rare, passionate theatrical beings (...) as skilled with the written word (which is political-poetic) as he is with visual and sound matter, or the body and the voice of the actors, which become living sculpture in shadow and light. His approach has something handcrafted about it, and yet is universal at the same time. His desire to be in the world and to evoke its ungraspable density, is poignant at every performance.’
Fabienne Pascaud, Télérama, 8th November 2008

Publications

Éditions Actes Sud-Papiers
2009 Le Livre d’or de Jan ( out shortly)
2008 Sans faim...2
2006 La Brûlure
2004 Sans faim / Texte M / Simon
1996 La croix des oiseaux / Traces
1995 La Brûlure (in "Brèves d'Auteurs", republished in 2006)
1994 Visages
1992 Terre or l'Épopée sauvage de Guénolé et Matteo
1990 Nomades
1988 Temporairement Épuisé

Revue carnet de voyages, n°3
1996 Je suis du Jour, Text by H. Colas, Photography by D. Ben Loulou

Cahiers du renard (Fox Notes)
1993 Le legs invisible in "L'art d'hériter"

Les Cahiers de Prospero, (Prospero’s Notes, a review for the National Center of Theatrical Writing)
1996 Bribes abattues, n° 8 (July1996)
1999 C'est ma maison, n°9 (March 1999)

As part of the Secours Populaire, published by Pocket, collection "Des mots pour la vie"
2000 Déroutes / Comment durer

Les Rencontres poétiques de Montpellier (Poetical Encounters in Montpellier) Sauramps bookshop
2000 Pour la route

Review IF n°29 (27+2) and n°31
Chief editor

Translated texts

Dans la jungle des villes by B. Brecht
Hamlet by W. Shakespeare
Avis aux femmes d'Irak by M. Crimp

Translations

Verlag der Autoren
2005 Die Verbrennung, translation of La Brûlure in German by Barbara Engelhardt.

Ksiegarnia Akademicka
2004 Dosyt, in l'Anthologie de la dramaturgie contemporaine française, translation of Sans faim in Polish by J. Warsza.

Editiones Trilce
2003 Tierra, translation of Terre in Spanish by F. Gomez Grande
Rostros, translation of Visages in Spanish by G. Perdomo

Theaterstückverlag
1996 Gesichter , translation of Visages in German by C. Frühauf.