// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Joris Lacoste a good painter? Lacoste to be seen.
Joris Lacoste | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 29, 1973 Langon, France |
| Occupations | Playwright, theatre director, sound artist |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Known for | Founding L'Encyclopédie de la parole |
| Website | jorislacoste |
Joris Lacoste (born 29 June 1973) is a French playwright, theatre director, and sound artist.[1] He is best known for creating experimental performances at the intersection of theater, literature, music, and sound poetry, with a particular focus on linguistic research and the acoustic properties of human speech.[2]
Biography
[edit]Lacoste was born in Langon in 1973 and currently lives and works in Paris.[2] He began writing for theatre and radio in 1996 and started directing his own experimental shows in 2003.[3]
From 2006 to 2007, Lacoste served as an associate author at the Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris. Between 2007 and 2009, he co-directed Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers, an artistic research center located in the northern suburbs of Paris.[2]
Major projects
[edit]Collective W
[edit]In 2004, Lacoste founded the collective research group **W** alongside Jeanne Revel. The group focuses on experimental artistic practices, performance games, and the theoretical analysis of theatrical spaces.[3]
L'Encyclopédie de la parole
[edit]In 2007, Lacoste initiated his most prominent project, L'Encyclopédie de la parole (English: The Encyclopedia of Spoken Words). This artistic and theatrical collective consists of artists, musicians, writers, and actors who collaborate to explore the diversity and musicality of human speech in all its forms.
Concept and methodology
[edit]The core mission of the collective is to collect, archive, and index various forms of spoken language. Since 2007, they have gathered thousands of audio recordings, which are categorized on their website according to specific linguistic and phonetic properties (such as cadence, emphasis, accent, and emotional tone). The project focuses on everyday speech that is typically excluded from formal documentation, including:
- Casual street conversations
- Media and political rhetoric
- Commercial pitches and announcements
- Casual stutters, hesitations, and emotional outbursts
Theatrical performances
[edit]Using the archived recordings, L'Encyclopédie de la parole produces theatrical and musical compositions where actors reproduce the exact pitches, rhythms, and intonations of the original recordings, transforming real spoken words into a form of musical score.
Under Lacoste's direction, the collective produced a highly acclaimed series of choral and orchestral performances known as "Suites", which have toured internationally:
- Parlement (2009)
- Suite N°1 (2013) – performed by an international cast representing multiple languages
- Suite N°2 (2015) – co-directed by Joris Lacoste and performed at major global festivals
- Suite N°3 (2017) – co-created with composer Pierre-Yves Macé
- Suite N°4 (2020) – produced in collaboration with the Ictus Ensemble
In 2020, the Festival d'Automne à Paris dedicated a special portrait program to the collective, highlighting over a decade of their contributions to contemporary documentary theater.
Other notable works
[edit]- 9 lyriques pour actrice et caisse claire (2005)
- Purgatoire (2007) – premiered at the Théâtre de la Colline
- Le vrai spectacle (2011)
- Nexus de l'adoration (2025) – premiered at the Festival d'Avignon[4]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Joris Lacoste". Festival d'Avignon. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Guest Lecturer - Joris Lacoste". La Manufacture. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Presentation - Joris Lacoste". Joris Lacoste Official Website. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ "Joris Lacoste presents "Nexus de l'adoration"". Festival d'Avignon. July 2025. Retrieved 14 July 2026.