Ariane Mnouchkine is the daughter of Jewish Russian film producer
Alexandre Mnouchkine and June Hannen (daughter of
Nicholas Hannen). Mnouchkine's paternal grandparents, Alexandre and Bronislawa Mnouchkine, were both deported from Drancy to Auschwitz on 17 December 1943, where they were both murdered. Ariane is the namesake of the production company
Ariane Films that was founded by her father. Mnouchkine attended
Sorbonne University in Paris, France, where she studied literature. On a year abroad at
Oxford University in England, studying English literature, she joined the
Oxford University Dramatic Society, and decided to return to her roots in theatre. She continued theatre studies at
L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, where in 1964 she founded
Théâtre du Soleil (Theatre of the Sun) with her fellow students. The theatre collective still continues to create social and political critiques of local and world cultures. ''Théâtre du Soleil's'' productions are often performed in found spaces like barns or gymnasiums because Mnouchkine does not like being confined to a typical stage. Similarly, she feels theatre cannot be restricted with the "fourth wall". When audiences enter a Mnouchkine production, they will often find the actors preparing (putting on makeup, getting into costume) right before their eyes. Mnouchkine has developed her own works, like the political-themed
1789, as well as numerous classical texts like
Molière's
Don Juan or
Tartuffe. Between 1981 and 1984, she translated and directed a series of
William Shakespeare plays:
Richard II,
Twelfth Night, and
Henry IV, Part 1. Mnouchkine also adapted a play from
Klaus Mann's novel
Mephisto. This was featured in the 1994 collection or
Plays by Mediterranean Women While mainly a stage director, she has been involved in some films. She shared an
Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay for ''L'Homme de Rio
(That Man from Rio, 1964). Her movie 1789
(filmed from the live production), which dealt with the French Revolution, brought her international fame in 1974. In 1978, she wrote and directed Molière'', a biography of
the famous French playwright, which earned her a
Palme d'Or nomination at
Cannes. She collaborated with
Hélène Cixous on a number of projects including
La Nuit miraculeuse and
Tambours sur la digue, two made-for-television movies in 1989 and 2003 respectively. In 1987, she was the first recipient of the
Europe Theatre Prize for her work with the
Théâtre du Soleil. In 1992, Mnouchkine criticized the
EuroDisney as cultural
Chernobyl and was very much against about the decision to open the European branch of the theme park in Paris. In 2009, Mnouchkine won the
Ibsen Award. The prize was awarded to her at a ceremony at the
National Theatre in Oslo on 10 September 2009. Mnouchkine received the
Goethe Medal in 2011. In 2019, Mnouchkine was awarded the
Kyoto Prize for Arts and Philosophy (Theater, Cinema). ==References==