” See you soon… ” Of all the protest banners, sonly this one remained visible Sunday, May 23 on the pediment of the Odeon-Theater of Europe, in Paris. The intermittents of the spectacle and activists of the CGT left of themselves, around 6 am Sunday, the theater which they occupied day and night since March 4. They demanded a second blank year, due to the health crisis, as well as the withdrawal of the unemployment insurance reform which comes into force in July. The movement to occupy theaters then spread to around a hundred theaters across France.
Specific to France, the intermittent regime concerns 120,000 artists and technicians compensated each year with the condition of having worked five hundred and seven hours over twelve months. Emmanuel Macron granted them a blank year which expires in August and which was recently extended by four months.
” Disappearance “
Early Sunday morning, the Twitter account of the occupants of the Odeon published a fake poster of the theater featuring a “ single representation ” of “The disappearance”, “staged by the occupants”. “What will their next surprise be? “, could we read there.
#LaDisparition #OccupationOdeon #OccuponsPartout #ABientot https://t.co/8ZHVtYiTMW
“Staying at the Odeon has become a problem of confrontation with the management, that does not interest us”, explained Denis Gravouil, secretary general of the CGT Spectacle. The idea now is to “Continue elsewhere, to continue fighting as long as possible”.
This occupation movement had prevented, according to the management, the theater from reopening, as planned, on May 19, with the performances of The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, directed by Ivo van Hove, with Isabelle Huppert headlining.
“The director’s decision not to give the performances of The Glass Menagerie since Wednesday, May 19, it is not tenable for us, because we want this show to take place ”, commented Denis Gravouil. “We wanted it to take place with an occupation that allows us to speak, that allows us to display banners, but we don’t want to prevent the show. So we will allow the shows to resume ”, continued the union official.
The occupation of theaters was condemned by the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, who tweeted on Thursday : “The time has come to end the blockages, to allow the public to return safely to the theaters, to let artists and technicians work. “
The occupation of the Parisian theater ended the day after a demonstration for the withdrawal of the unemployment insurance reform, at the call of the National Coordination of Occupied Theaters. In Paris, several hundred people (500 at the start according to the CGT) marched towards the Place de la République after having gathered at the Odeon.