Team
Benoît Faivre
Artistic Director
Born in 1979, he abandoned his studies in science to study history, cinema, theatre, history of art and music. He moved into the direction of radio plays and into sound and musical creation for theatre (Cécile Backès, Joseph Danan, Michel Dydim, etc.) and visual arts. He founded the company la Bande Passante in 2007. After his first two plays (Compléments d’Objets and Cockpit Cuisine), he started to form a documentary object theatre. He was joined by Tommy Laszlo in 2014.
Claire Girod
Production Manager
With a Baccalaureate in science, a Master’s degree in Political Science and another in Cultural Engineering under her belt, Claire has been working for more than 10 years now to support, produce and distribute theatre companies with a renewed sense of enthusiasm.
As the years have gone by, the collaborative projects Claire has been involved in have seen her move towards Puppetry Arts, both in France (La Mue/tte, La Bande Passante) and abroad (Blah Blah Production), in addition to regional projects (Blah Blah Blah) or performances where the goal is to form a closer connection with audiences through the way in which they are staged (La Valise, La Soeur de Shakespeare).
Claire joined La Bande Passante in 2013 for Cockpit Cuisine.
Claire was treasurer of THEMAA – the Association Nationale des Théâtres de marionnettes et Arts Associés (the National Association of Puppet Theatres and Associated Arts) – a role in which she devised a support system for young administrative staff. She gives production classes at vocational degree level at the Metz faculty of the University of Lorraine.
Vincent Frossard
Technical Director
Whether working as a set builder, stage manager, lighting director or general manager, what really matters is participating in a collective, creative adventure.
Supporting artists in accomplishing projects is what drives him, and this role in the shadows suits him perfectly.
After studying performing arts in Lyon, he joined Compagnie Luc Amoros, continued his training as a stagehand at ISTS Avignon, and for 20 years has alternated between rural and international tours.
In 2021 he is embarking on a new collaboration with La Bande Passante.
Tommy Laszlo
Co-Artistic Director on Paper Worlds
This visual artist, born in 1975, graduated from the Lorraine Higher Art School and worked as a film set decorator for the Samsafilms and Delux Production studios in Luxembourg. He created videos for the Metz opera-theatre, the National Theatre of Nancy-La Manufacture and the Escales Lyriques festival. At the same time, he worked on personal productions, in particular video portraits. He joined the company in 2014 and co-directed the ‘Paper Worlds’ cycle.
Kathleen Fortin
Associate artist and head of cultural action
After studying theatre and mime in Quebec, Kathleen spent 3 years studying at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mézières. Following graduation, Kathleen moved to Alsace where she began collaborating with a number of directors, both from Alsace and further afield (Eric Dominicone, Eve Ledig, Anne Aycoberry, Luc Amoros, Grégoire Cailles, Émilie Flasher), working as a puppeteer, shadow theatre performer and actress. She built for S.O.U.P.E., Actemobazar and Rebonds d’Histoires. She undertook voice training with Isabelle Marx and Catherine Fender. She has provided a fresh perspective for a variety of companies including La Mue/tte, Le Coin Qui Tourne and Les Mots du Vent. She joined La Bande Passante in 2016 where she began working with Benoît Faivre and Tommy Laszlo, designing and putting on the shows Au Fond and Vies de Papier. Since 2018 she has been the artistic director for the company PuceAndPunez, where she wrote and directed Tremblements. Alongside this, she teaches theatre and puppetry to a range of different groups.
Sandrine Hernandez
Head of Communication
Following a period of ten years spent working as a production and distribution manager in contemporary dance before switching exclusively to puppetry and associated arts (Scopitone et Cie, La Générale Électrique, Roi Zizo, Collectif Label Brut), Sandrine undertook training in web, DTP and editorial techniques. Her work has focused more specifically on communication media and tools used in the distribution of art projects. In 2018, she joined two companies based in Lorraine, La Bande Passante and La Mue/tte, and pursued her work in communication with the Roi Zizo company based in Morbihan.
Aurélie Burgun
Production Manager
Having graduated with a degree in accounting, Aurélie has been working with theatre companies for more than 10 years as either a production or administrative manager. Following a period of nine years spent working with the company La Valise, she joined the team Blah Blah Blah, La Mue/tte and La Bande Passante, all based in Lorraine.
Marie-Jeanne Assayag-Lion
Lighting Designer, Tour Manager
Marie-Jeanne studied fashion design in Paris (DTMS [Technician’s Degree in Performing Arts] at Lycée Paul Poiret) and worked as a costume designer in the entertainment industry. Following a period of being mentored by Erick Plaza-Cochet, costume designer and lighting engineer, Marie-Jeanne began moving towards lighting. She graduated with a degree in Arts Professions, specialising in lighting, and began working with dance, clown and theatre troupes as a manager and lighting designer: Afag, Des Pieds Des Mains, Téatron, Théâtre En Kit, Enfant Phare, etc.
Alongside this, she also worked for a number of different festivals and performance spaces (Saulcy theatre, the NEST – CDN in Thionville, the Thionville Municipal Theatre, the Alya Avignon space, Teksas, the Pompidou Centre).
Marie-Jeanne joined La Bande Passante in 2016 as a general stage manager and lighting designer.
Charline Dereims
Tour Manager
It was while studying for a BTS in spatial design (Marseille) that Charline discovered scenography and made the decision to transfer to a degree in performing arts (Aix-en-Provence). It became clear that working with light and lighting was a key aspect in the creation of space, and even after obtaining a Master’s degree in scenography (Metz), she continued to work both on set design (Divine Comédie, Histoire d’Eux, Lux Salina, Projet d’installation plastique) and on light (La Bande Passante, Histoire d’Eux, Espace Bernard-Marie Koltès), focusing always on the performance space. Since studying for her Master’s degree, puppetry and questions relating to scale saw her begin to question her experience in scenography, both from a theoretical point of view (memory, research residency) and a practical point of view (designing and building sets).
Collaborations artistiques
Pauline Jardel
Shot selection, Documentary production
After studying modern languages in Strasbourg, Pauline moved to Berlin in 1995. There she began working in audio-visual production, both as a production assistant and manager in documentary film making and reportage in addition to work on fictional feature-length films and in advertising. She also worked there as an assistant director for feature-length films and music videos.
She has lived in Paris since 2003, where, alongside her work in cinema production, she has been responsible for her own documentary projects: Walter Potts (16’, 2003), All I Wanna Do (35’, 2010), Kaori (10’, 2011), Mais comment t’as fait, Mathieu Boogaerts ? (52’, 2012), Il était cinq heures dix, Bertrand Belin (50’, 2014), Albin de la Simone, Images Fantômes (50’, 2016).
David Gallaire
Set design and Construction
David Gallaire was born in Paris in 1969 and currently lives in Nancy.
After initially studying more scientific subjects, he began working on the technical side of performance in the early 1990s. At the time, his work involved designing and building structures and sets for performances.
David began moving towards designing quirky machinery as well as lyrical, sound-based mechanisms for use in live performances. A self-taught artist, he has been involved in a number of different theatre projects. His career has also seen him performing on stage as a performer-puppeteer, using animated objects and shapes.
He has worked with: Le Théâtre en Kit, Mille Failles, Boomerang, Théâtre de la Manufacture / CDN Nancy, 4 Litres 12, La Valise, Repères, Blah Blah Blah, La Bande Passante, Soundtrack, NEST / CDN Thionville, to name just a few, with whom he has put together a series of performances and tours both within France and overseas.
He also designed plastic pieces to be displayed within the Art Brut network – working in collaboration with L’Art en Marche, his pieces were displayed in a number of locations throughout France between 1999 and 2012.
Since 2015, he has been a member of the collective 711, a collective he set up. The work of this multi-disciplinary collective centres around lighting design and scenography for use in performances as well as other independent projects.
Daniel Trento
Construction and Costumes
After studying fashion and working for a brief time in the production of luxury goods, including a period spent with Chanel, in 1996 Daniel Trento decided to move into costume production for use in live performances. Having trained at the Opéra du Rhin, he began working in Lorraine with the companies TMM Cie Jean Poirson, La Balestra and Les Crieurs de Nuits. In 1997 he started working with the Théâtre du Centaure in Luxembourg.
In his role as a plastic artist, he also collaborated with set designers such as Jacques Griesemer (Pierre de Culture) and was responsible for building the sets designed by Daniel Jassogne for the Théâtre des Capucins in Luxembourg. He also worked with Jeanny Kratochwil. After graduating with a higher national diploma in theatre techniques and art (ENSATT Lyon), he continued his mentorship with the S.O.U.P.E, Les Bestioles, Deracinemoa and Les Fruits du Hasard.
2015 saw a new collaboration with Delphine Bardot, co-writing and composing the scenography for L’Un Dans L’Autre, performed by La Mue/tte, as well as Les Folles in 2017, which gave him the opportunity to further develop the notion of castle costumes/bodies.
He has been working with paper materials since 2012. In this field, Daniel has designed and put together a number of prototypes for PopUp castles, the S.O.U.P.E company and future collaborations to come with La Bande Passante.
Francis Ramm
Lights, Video, Image design and Construction
Since his time studying at L’École des Beaux-Arts, from where he graduated with a DNSEP (Higher National Diploma in Plastic Expression – Audiovisual/communication department) with distinction, Francis has continued to perfect his skills in a range of fields linked to image, whether cinematographic, audio-visual or computer-generated.
As both a teacher and a designer, Francis has demonstrated a real sense of versatility in his professional career, working as a plastic artist, set designer, costume designer, director of photography and director.
In 2001, he met Véronika Petit and worked on a number of her documentaries and projects as co-director, videographer and head cameraman. In 2003, he founded the collective Kinorev, whose performance Naguère les Etoiles, voted by Arte, gave audiences the opportunity to discover the film making process live using resources taken from the Cinéma de Méliès.
Gabriel Fabing
Musical compositions
A multi-instrumentalist and composer with a passion for free, expressive music, Gabriel spent ten years at the Amnéville conservatoire for music where he studied piano, flute and cello. In 2003, he came across the company La Valise (theatre/puppetry/circus), for whom he would go on to compose a dozen or so soundtracks. In 2007, he began working with a number of different companies (dance, street, circus, theatre, puppetry), mostly performing his own compositions during performances (La Vouivre, Carabosse, Les fruits du Hasard, Anomalie, Azimut, Caliband Théatre, Volubilis, M.O#Cie). In 2010, he founded Blah Blah Blah with Claire Girod, a company based around quirky, expressive and lively music. The company’s repertoire ranges from shows for young children to participatory horn concerts, right through to “sound siestas”.
In 2017, he composed the soundtrack for Vies de Papier.
Harry Holtzman
Mise en scène, Ecriture, Dramaturgie
Après des études universitaires en lettres à Yale University (promotion 1989, magne cum laude et honors in English), il intègre l’Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. Il joue pour la Cie Philippe Genty en tournée dans plus de vingt-cinq pays. Il rejoint ensuite le Footsbarn Travelling Theater avant de travailler avec le Nada Théâtre pour qui il écrit et met en scène Dieu, Sel et Sable. Avec Label Brut, collectif en résidence au Carré, Scène Nationale de Château Gontier, il adapte et met en scène La Nuit du 21 juin d’après le Songe de Shakespeare, il co-écrit et met en scène Moulin, il joue dans plusieurs spectacle du collectif également. Il est comédien pour Laurent Fréchuret au Centre Dramatique National de Sartrouville et pour Michel Raskine dans Les Relations de Claire au Théâtre de la Ville-Les Abbesses (Paris). Il met en scène Terre d’Arène de la Compagnie
Au cul du loup, pièce jouée à l’Auditorium de l’opéra Bastille. Il est clown dans le cirque Cahin-Caha dans Grimm (Gulko), dans la Maison des Clowns de G. d’Ettorre, et dans le projet 7 clowns / 7 familles de Caroline Obin.
Il a créé son solo Happy Endings, pièce de théâtre à la croisée du clown et du théâtre d’objets en novembre 2017. Il a mis en scène et co-écrit avec Laurent Fraunié et Benoit Faivre la dernière création de la Bande Passante Cockpit Cuisine.