Event details

Marie-France is a journalist in Paris, Luc is a teacher in Vénissieux, and Michel is a factory worker in Belfort. At eighteen, they lived through the events of May '68. In 1981, they voted for François Mitterrand. Then, in 2022, they voted for Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Marine Le Pen, respectively. To understand why they no longer agree on anything—and can no longer stand one another—they take turns playing "their" president.

Génération Mitterrand is the second installment in the series Huit rois (nos présidents). These deeply personal presidential portraits examine French society, looking at both those who shape it and those who live in it. At once tender, funny, and insightful, this second episode dramatizes the hopes and disillusionments of an entire generation.

Writing a show about François Mitterrand means writing a show about my parents’ generation—born after World War II, revolutionaries in 1968, and convinced on the evening of May 10, 1981, that the election of a Socialist President would "change life." It is a strange paradox: the "Generation of '68" entrusted the task of realizing its libertarian, egalitarian, and decentralizing ideals to a man from the Catholic bourgeoisie—a man worn down by the Fourth Republic and tainted by the Algerian War. Génération Mitterrand—a tragicomic autopsy of a generation’s utopias—chronicles the lives of three characters born in 1950 who voted for Mitterrand in 1981: Marie-France, a journalist in Paris; Luc, a teacher in Vénissieux; and Michel, a factory worker in Belfort. Through the story of their hopes and disillusionments, we aim above all to paint a portrait of the people of the Left. They will take turns embodying their President and interpreting—or sensing—his promises, betrayals, failures, and successes. The man who was once the herald of the Left ultimately came to symbolize its capitulations. After two years of ambitious, interventionist policies, François Mitterrand opted for a policy of austerity more in line with the expectations of financial markets. What led François Mitterrand to take this path, effectively abandoning the hopes he had championed during his presidential campaign? And yet, how did this man manage to secure a unique place in the hearts of the French people and in the history of the Fifth Republic—a place that marks him as "the last of the great presidents"?

— Léo Cohen Paperman

Photo Gallery

• Photo credit: Pauline Le Goff

• Photo credit: Pauline Le Goff

• Photo credit: Pauline Le Goff

• Photo credit: Pauline Le Goff

• Photo credit: Pauline Le Goff

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Tickets

Free and open to the public; advance tickets required. Tickets available in late August through University Ticketing.

Performance Details

Show performed in French with English subtitles. Duration: 1 hour, 20 min. Content appropriate for ages 12+

See all shows in 2026 French Theater Festival

Trailer

Directions

Get directions to the Whitman College Class of 1970 Theater on the Princeton campus.

Accessibility

The Whitman Theater is an accessible venue. Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information about our various locations. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week in advance of the event date.

About Léo Cohen-Paperman

Photo courtesy Leo Cohen-Paperman

Léo Cohen-Paperman was born in 1988. He trained in stage direction at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique under the guidance of Daniel Mesguich, Sandy Ouvrier, and Pierre Debauche. As an assistant director, he has worked with Olivier Py (Aeschylus's The Oresteia), Jean-Pierre Garnier (Lagarce's “Fragments d'un pays lointain:” Musset's “Lorenzaccio”), and Christine Berg (Ibsen's “Peer Gynt;” Hugo's “Hernani;” Devos's “Cabaret”).

Cohen-Paperman is the artistic director of the company Les Animaux en Paradis and co-director of the Nouveau Théâtre Populaire collective. His production of “Illusions perdues” (Lost Illusions) won the Grand Prix from the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

Production Credits

Text by Léo Cohen-Paperman & Émilien Diard-Detoeuf
Directed by Léo Cohen-Paperman
Performed by Léonard Bourgeois-Tacquet, Mathieu Metral et Hélène Rencurel
Lighting design by Pablo Roy, Stéphane Bordonaro, Léa Maris
Sound design by Lucas Lelièvre
Light & Sound management by Mathieu Métral
Stage design by Anne-Sophie Grac
Costume design by Manon Naudet
Produced by Léonie Lenain
Touring management by Anne Sophie Boulan
Administration by Clara Rodrigues
Tour organization by Juliette Lecourt
Communication by Lucile Reynaud

Production by Compagnie des Animaux en paradis
Coproduction by Théâtre Louis Jouvet, Rethel ; TCM, Théâtre de Charleville-Mézières ; Espace Jean Vilar, Revin ; le Salmanazar, Epernay. Le Forum Jacques Prévert – scène conventionnée de Carros, Théâtre du Train Bleu, Acmé, La Pépinière Théâtre
With the support of département de la Marne and Région Grand Est and the support of Théâtre du Rond-Point.
The show has benefited from aide de l’Agence culturelle Grand Est as part of Tournée de coopération, It has been selected and sponsored by Région Grand Est et l’UE-FEDER (as part of dispositif Festival Off Avignon).
Company Animaux en Paradis benefits from the support of Ministry of Culture – DRAC Grand Est, and is sponsored by Région Grand Est.

This project is part of the shared residency of the company in Grand Est Region, made possible in partnership with : Théâtre Louis Jouvet - Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national de Rethel, Le Salmanazar - Scène de création et de diffusion d’Epernay, Théâtre de La Madeleine - Scène conventionnée de Troyes, Théâtre municipal de Charleville-Mézières, Maison des jeunes et de la culture Calonne de Sedan, Espace Jean Vilar de Revin, La Filature – espace culturel de Bazancourt.

Special Thanks

Léo Cohen Paperman, Villa Albertine, Adèle Fremolle, Louise Dodet, Anne-Sophie Boulan, Léonie Lenain, Juliette Lecourt, Lucile Reynaud, Maryam & Emmanuel Simon.