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The TNNs new artistic director Irina Brook has big shoes to fill, those of predecessorDaniel Benoin who leaves the TNN after a 12 year tenure.

Theater is in Irina Brooks blood, and her life is a series of contrasts. The daughter tolegendary film and theatre director Peter Brookand revered actress Natasha Parrywasborn in France, identifies as British, and spent her childhood between Paris,London, andNew York.

After studying drama at the renowned Stella Adler Studio of Actingin New York, shefirst played in Broadway shows, then returned to Europe and took on stage and TV actingroles, but also soon became involved in directing and producing, and eventually worked allover the world. She feels as much at home on a stage in Tokyoas she does in theWestern Massachusettscountryside.

However, Irinanever capitalized on being her parents daughter. She worked hard onestablishing her own artistic identity and reputation, and now, at age 50, hasaccumulated a wealth of skills and experience that is nothing short of impressive.Numerous prestigious awardsalong the way bear vivid testimonial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Brookhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663678/http://www.stellaadler.com/http://www.riviera-buzz.com/features/travel/item/147-land-of-the-rising-sun.htmlhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111628/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nmhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663678/http://www.stellaadler.com/http://www.riviera-buzz.com/features/travel/item/147-land-of-the-rising-sun.htmlhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111628/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Brook

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Pushing the envelope with new, contemporary, andunconventional productionsamore internationally oriented playbillshows in different languages- in short, a reflectionof her own artistic career across continents and disciplines. Without alienatingestablished patrons, her intention is to make the world of theater accessible toeveryone, to open it to a new audience that may perhaps never before have consideredgoing to a play, especially the younger generation and families.

To her, theater is an inclusive place, not one for the cultural elite. I consider myself anAmbassadress of Culture, she says with a genuine smile, visibly excited about theopportunities ahead of her.

Is the Niois audienceready for a more contemporary slant? Nice is totally ready for it,ready for a lot more variety and excitement, she says. Ready for more diversity both inperformance and in languages. Well have plays in English. But reversely, were alsothinking of doing a Shakespeare Festival, and that doesnt necessarily have to be inEnglish. Shakespeare can very well be played in French, or any other language for thatmatter.

Irinaalso laments the fact that while the TNNis a great theater with a decent budget it

unfortunately is the only public one in Nice. To centralize art like that is not creative. Iwould therefore like to see a network of theaters across town.

Will she continue working with some of the talented local companies, or try to get in bignames? Well, it really depends. If a local company brings me an excellent play, of courseIll consider them. On the other hand, I wont specifically hire a local company just becausethey are local. She certainly has no shortage of local talentaround her in Nice.

Just a few weeks ago, the TNNkicked off the New Year with a stunner, produced byCollectif 8, a Niois company. Under the lead of TNNregulars Paulo Correia andGaleBoghossian, this contemporary adaptation of Victor Hugos Angelo, Tyran de Padouewas widely hailed as one of the most creative, impressive productions in the theatershistory.

https://www.facebook.com/collectif8http://www.collectif8.com/fr/equipe/#paulohttp://www.collectif8.com/fr/equipe/#gaelehttp://www.collectif8.com/fr/equipe/#gaelehttp://www.riviera-buzz.com/features/arts-culture/item/534-review-of-angelo-tyran-de-padoue.htmlhttps://www.facebook.com/collectif8http://www.collectif8.com/fr/equipe/#paulohttp://www.collectif8.com/fr/equipe/#gaelehttp://www.collectif8.com/fr/equipe/#gaelehttp://www.riviera-buzz.com/features/arts-culture/item/534-review-of-angelo-tyran-de-padoue.html

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And Nice-born actor Marc Duret, who played the title role of Angelo, has also been a TNNstaple, working there since even before outgoing artistic director Daniel Benointook overfrom his predecessor Jacques Weberin 2002. Multilingual andmulticultural like Irina,he, too, shares her passion for a Niois theater scenewith a more cosmopolitan flair.

Having played and directed in pretty much every metropolisaround the globe, wont Nicefeel quite small to Irina, we want to know. Oh no, not at all, she says with characteristicfervor. In fact, I enjoy smaller towns. Ive lived in the countryside ever since my children

were born and I wouldnt want to be in a huge city anymore. Nice is the perfect solution -big enough to be interesting, and small enough to have that sense of community andneighborhood. In a way, with all the different languages and cultures here, itscosmopolitan like New York, but you can still run into friends at every street corner. Andshe is indeed not an ivory tower dweller, she enjoys meeting people and sharing herpassion for the theaterwith them.

One such opportunity for the public to meet her are her readings at the TNN. Barelyarrived, she held a first one on a rainy Saturday afternoon in January, and another one isalready scheduled for Saturday, 15th February at 3 pm at the theater (admission is free butphone reservation is highly recommended, 04.93.13.90.90 Tuesday through Saturday from

2 pm to 7 pm.)

The first play bearing Irina Brooks unique signaturewill be Henrik Ibsens Peer Gynt inSeptember 2014 which she already successfully directed at the 2012 Salzburg Festival.Her eyes light up with excitementwhen she talks of the 14 actors on stage. and themusicians and the international, culturally and linguistically diverseensemble andhow that can work in Nice. There is an enthusiasmin her words that is contagious.

And that Ibsen play, so characteristic of her effortless worldliness and artisticbroadmindedness, is a perfect representation of what Irina Brookstands for, what shewill bring to Nice, and what we can all look forward to a joyful, accessible theater

experience, a fresh breath of air, and a good dose of international flavour. A winningrecipe for success.

http://www.marcduret.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Weberhttp://www.tnn.fr/fr/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_Gynthttp://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/archive_detail/programid/4582http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Ibsenhttp://www.marcduret.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Weberhttp://www.tnn.fr/fr/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_Gynthttp://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/archive_detail/programid/4582http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Ibsen