“A Trumpian moment”: the Maison Maria Casarès in danger after the reduction of subsidies of the Drac

“From the moment we sought to invent new solutions to bring theater to life, the gods fell on our heads”deplore Matthieu Roy and Johanna Silberstein. The two co-directors of La Maison Maria Casarès, in Alloue, in Charente, are devastated. On May 7, they learned by mail that their main support, Drac Nouvelle-Aquitaine, had reduced its subsidies by 30%. That is 78,000 euros out of the 750,000 euros budget. This news couldn’t come at a worse time.

“We would have accepted a reduction of 5% like all the other cultural centers, but not of 30%”explains Matthieu Roy. In 2025, after four years of work, they inaugurated the tragedian’s home which required 1.8 million euros. Transformed into a cultural meeting center and dedicated to creation, the place commemorates this year the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of the actress. “You cannot launch the house in 2025 and cut the budget in 2026, the town hall does not understand the disengagement of the State”adds the co-director.

Skip the ad

7,000 spectators in 2025

When she died, Maria Casarès bequeathed the estate where she lived for thirty-five years to the town of Alloue. “Such a drop during the financial year directly jeopardizes the economic balance of a structure which cannot review its project overnight”estimate the two leaders who welcomed more than 7,000 spectators last year. « The 1^is January 2027, we will no longer have cashlaments Matthieu Roy. In 2017, when we arrived with the association, we had 350,000 euros annually, it doubled with us, thanks to the festivals and the new models that we put in place and the public partners who supported us. »

From July 25 to August 15, they celebrate their 10^e summer festival which cleverly combines theatre, heritage and local gastronomy. On the menu, a “dinner show” around Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen with “young shoots”. Matthieu Roy will thus stage twelve actors from the Paris School of Dramatic Art. The show will then be given in Paris, at the Plateaux Sauvages (from September 15 to 26). “When we were told, we asked for a hearing to try to understand things and negotiate, he remembers. We were received, but we did not move forward. However, we have done everything we can to answer the questions that were asked of us, but there is always something that is not right…”.

Despite their difficulties, between the Maison Maria Casarès and the Maria Casarès Stage in Poitiers inaugurated in 2023 and open all year round, the actress and the director offer more than a hundred performances. “ When the new Drac came, she said things didn’t live up to their expectations,” annoys Matthieu Roy who begins to “ lose faith.” “We have the impression that our financial arrangements are suspect, of being taken in by the Drac Nouvelle-Aquitaine because we have innovated in its sector with the Maria Casarès Stage. They questioned the auditor, afterwards, we were treated to an internal investigation which showed that there was no criminal problem, now it is the conventions which pose the problem. We are in a Trumpian moment: when you want to kill your dog, you say it has rabies. »