Valère Novarina, the distinctive, avant-garde figure of contemporary French literature and theatre, has died. Born in Geneva in 1947, the artist wrote his own stage texts, directed his productions, and designed their visual worlds himself. He was a recurring artist at the Avignon Festival.

Novarina’s connection to Hungary began in Debrecen, where he staged The Imaginary Operetta in 2009. In later years, his productions were presented several times at the Madách International Theatre Festival (MITEM). In this year’s programme, he was due to arrive with the production The Characters of Thought, intending to personally accompany the collaborators of his play.

In recent years, his books have also been published in Hungarian, and he gave masterclasses at Károli Gáspár University and at the University of Theatre and Film Arts.

“The theatre is one of the rare places where we can experiment with what is forbidden to us everywhere else—and what gives rise to extraordinary joy: stepping outside the human,” Novarina once said, explaining why he considered theatre so important.

The company of the National Theatre of Budapest will cherish his memory with love and respect.

(16 January 2026)