French rally to get their national theaters back
Protesters hold a banner reading “Opening Essential” as dozens of French students occupy the Theatre de La Colline in Paris to demand the reopening of cultural venues.
French protesters occupied three national theaters on Wednesday to demand an end to the ban on cultural activities imposed due to the pandemic as frustration grows with the months-long halt to performances.
Theaters, cinemas, museums and other cultural spaces have been shut since France’s last full lockdown in October, and have remained closed despite most businesses reopening in December.
Pressure has been building for weeks and thousands marched in cities across France last Thursday to demand a reopening with social distancing of the cultural sector.
The Paris march ended with around 50 people forcing their way into the shuttered Odeon Theatre and refusing to leave.
Similar actions were seen on Tuesday at two other theaters — the Colline in eastern Paris and the National Theatre of Strasbourg. University students also spent Monday night in the regional theater of Pau in southern France.
“This is a national movement,” said Karine Huet, Secretary General of the National Union of Musical Artists.
“Regional unions have responded and it’s starting to build. They are getting organized,” she said inside the Odeon.
Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot visited the Odeon on Saturday and vowed to continue talks, but the union response has been unequivocal.
“Occupy! Occupy! Occupy!” was the call on Tuesday, adding this was a direct follow-on from the “Yellow Vest” protests that rocked France two years ago.
At the Colline Theatre, dozens of students were seen with signs, including “Bachelot, if you don’t open, we’re coming to play at your house.”
