Founded in 2011 in Montpellier by a collective of performers just out of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art of Montpellier and Paul Valéry University Montpellier III, the company Le Cri Dévot creates its shows under the banner of encounter. Immersion in specific environments, outside traditional performance spaces, always serves as the starting point for our creations. During these immersions, we enrich our perspectives and spark the curiosity of residents, students, users, and more. Territorial projects and shared creations have thus taken a central place in the artistic development of the company. Co-writing with participants and collecting documentary narratives are valuable tools in the design of our performances. Engaging with venues of various sizes and technical capabilities invites us to create easily adaptable shows that better meet the needs of regions without dedicated spaces.
Our performances explore intimate and collective memory, self-construction within family, territory, or generation, and the relationships between small and large histories. Since 2017, the company has particularly focused on the notion of collective memory through an intergenerational project titled “Save the Date!” Inspired by the literary works of Annie Ernaux, this cycle has led to several adaptations of her novels (for theaters, non-dedicated venues, and public areas), multiple participatory in situ creations, and original writings by the company’s performers, echoing the author’s work. Beginning in 2023, Le Cri Dévot will embark on a new cycle of work that continues the exploration of self-writing but will draw on texts by Édouard Louis, raising questions about sexual identity and gender-based violence.
SUPPORTS - Le Cri Dévot builds long-term partnerships with cultural institutions. It has been a partner company of the Scènes Croisées de Lozère for three seasons (2019 to 2022), an associated artist of the Scène Nationale d’Albi-Tarn for the 20/21 season, and is a partner company of the Scène de Bayssan from 2023 to 2025. It is also an associated artist at L'Astrolabe Grand Figeac for the entire 2024-2025 season. The company regularly collaborates with Théâtre Jean Vilar - City of Montpellier, Le Kiasma - City of Castelnau-le-Lez, Scène Nationale de Tarbes-Pyrénées, and the cultural service of CROUS Montpellier. It has received support from Collectif EnJeux, Occitanie en Scène, and Réseau Pyramid (Regions-en-Scène), and has participated in several international projects (RTA festival, Creative Europe cooperation project Be SpecACTive!2).
Le Cri Dévot is a member of the Occitanie young public platform and the European and international project cooperative.
The company receives support from the City of Montpellier for its operations and projects, as well as from the Montpellier Méditerranée Metropolis. It benefited from a partnership with the Hérault Department in 2016-2017, and then from a partnership with the Occitanie Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region from 2018 to 2022. It has repeatedly received support from DRAC Occitanie for its creations and cultural action projects.
