The theatre developed from the Festival de Nanterre, first staged in 1965 in a circus tent. In 1966 it was moved to the
University of Nanterre. From 1971 it was made a
Centre dramatique national, a national public theater, and received public funding. In 1982 the theatre was named
Théâtre des Amandiers and directed by
Patrice Chéreau and
Catherine Tasca. Chéreau established a theatre school and a film studio. His first staging was
Combat de nègres et de chiens by
Bernard-Marie Koltès, followed by the author's
Quai Ouest, Dans la solitude des champs de coton and
Le retour au désert. Productions of
Arthur Schnitzler's
Das weite Land by
Luc Bondy and a staged version of
Louis-Ferdinand Céline's novel
Journey to the End of the Night by André Engel were also notable. Chéreau staged plays by
Jean Genet,
Pierre de Marivaux,
Heiner Müller,
Jean Racine, and
Shakespeare. The work of Chéreau in the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers is depicted in the 2022 French-Italian film
Forever Young. Jean-Pierre Vincent directed the theatre from 1990 to 2001. From 1991 to 2001
Georges Aperghis, the leader of the group L'ATEM, directed music productions. From 2001 to 2013 Jean-Louis Martinelli directed the theatre and Philippe Quesne from 2014 to 2020. In 2021, Christophe Rauck has been appointed Director of the Nanterre-Amandiers Theatre. == Directors ==