Charles Chemin is a stage director, dramaturg and lighting designer for theatre, dance and opera.
THE WATERMILL CENTER // Since 2020, he is the artistic director of the interdisciplinary festival International Summer Program at The Watermill Center, founded by Robert Wilson in 1991 in New York State. He presents works by international emerging artists in residency, alongside renowned artists such as Robert Nava, Lucinda Childs, Tsubasa Kato, CocoRosie, Regina Galindo, Alicja Kwade.
THEATER & DANCE // He is stage director in-residence at La Pergola National Theater in Florence since 2019, where he writes and directs interno/esterno based on Maeterlinck, touring in Théâtre de la Ville Paris, develops the piece PARADISI based on Dante and performs pedagogical missions at the Drama School. He stages several shows at Craiova national Theater in Romania, like Athens by night, adapted from the two Athenian plays by Shakespeare. He conceives and choreographs dance pieces with Caroline Breton, I hope, figures, SPEAK, at Ménagerie de Verre in Paris and Orléans National Scene. He staged his first works since 2008 together with visual artist Carlos Soto in places like Performa Biennial New York or Moscow Contemporary art Biennial.
MUSIC & OPERA // In 2024, he ensures the artistic direction and adapts the opera Carmen by Bizet for the choreographer and dancer Israel Galván. He also stages the operas Le Messie du peuple chauve by Eric Breton at Avignon Opera and Cubanacan by Roberto Valera at Havana national Opera. He also staged music pieces, like 20 silences with Dom Bouffard at Vicenza Festival, based on his research at NASA and collaborated with composers such as François Sarhan for Home Work with Ictus Ensemble at Bregenz Festival or Alexandre Desplat and Solrey for the opera En Silence and various staged and video concerts.
ROBERT WILSON // He works as a co-director and dramaturg for Robert Wilson's works since 2009, collaborating together on over twenty productions, including Mary Said with Isabelle Huppert, PESSOA with Maria de Medeiros or the historic I was sitting on my patio at Théâtre de la Ville Paris. He realizes new adaptations of plays such as Albee's Three Tall Women or Jarry's UBU, and tours numerous shows, including Krapp's Last Tape by Beckett where he directs Wilson on stage.
PERFORMER // Trained as a performer by Meg Harper (Merce Cunningham Co), Robert Wilson and Philippe Chemin, he performed during 20 years in theatres such as Comédie-Française, Lincoln Center in New York, Festival d’Avignon, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Barbican Centre à Londres.