Olympia Theatre - National Drama Centre (Tours - Indre-et-Loire)

1986 : the State and the Region decide to create the Centre Dramatique Régional du Centre (C.D.R.C.) in Bourges. Gilles Bouillon takes the direction
1990 : transfer to Tours. It became the Centre dramatique régional de Tours (CDRT), located at the Théâtre Louis Jouvet (242 seats); need to rent offices at another address.
2004 : after extensive work, the CDRT occupies the Nouvel Olympia (the old cinema in the city centre) where it has a 466-seat hall, offices and a rehearsal room
2014 Jacques Vincey takes over the management of the CDRT, and names it "Théâtre Olympia T°".

2017: The regional drama centre becomes the national drama centre.

After two years of management at the Centre dramatique de Tours, in mid-term (2014-2017), Jacques Vincey has managed to retain, diversify and develop the public, with more than 35,000 spectators per year. Schools and audiences furthest away from culture have made this opening possible. The Olympia Theatre is also part of the city and the territory, developing its activity outside the walls and strengthening partnerships with cultural actors in the region. In addition, work on visibility and a new visual identity have made it possible to change the way we look at the theatre. The Olympia Theatre will have several highlights in 2016.

On the proposal of the Minister of Culture and Communication, the CDN (National Drama Centre) labeling took place in May 2017: Order of 5 May 2017, published in the JORF of 11 May (text no. 229).

All the public partners of the CDRT, elected officials and cultural services supported this project of labelling.

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Meeting with Jacques Vincey (3 October 2014)

Those around me have approaches that certainly complement mine while having different aesthetics. But above all I believe that we find ourselves on a certain theatrical ethic.(...) Theatre is the place of all possibilities where we can say things that we could never say otherwise (…) But it involves working hard to make a play resonate with what we think is right.”

Read the full interview (pdf to download in the right part of this page)