21/10/1968
National Popular Theatre (NPT) becomes a public institution
The Decree no. 68-906 of 21 October 1968 erect the NPT as a public industrial and commercial establishment. Founded in 1920 in Paris by Firmin Gémier, the TNP was directed from 1951 to 1963 by Jean Vilar, who installed it at the Palais de Chaillot, then by Georges Wilson who endowed it in 1965 with a «small room» dedicated to contemporary authors. In 1972, with Jack Lang as director, the large hall was destroyed and replaced by the Jean Vilar room. The NPT is renamed the Théâtre national de Chaillot by the Decree no. 75-344 of 9 May 1975. The NPT was then «decentralized» in Villeurbanne, where it moved to the Théâtre de la Cité under the direction of Roger Planchon, Patrice Chéreau and Robert Gilbert.