In Paris, an Open-Air Theater Festival

Skilled at improvisation, commedia dell’arte, burlesque, music and poetry, the adventurous actors set up a wooden stage, or treteaux, and offer contemporary versions of traditional and modern plays, as well as storytelling and clown and mime acts. This year’s festival will run from Aug. 22 through Sept. 4.
Among other locations, the troupe will perform at the Arenes de Montmartre, the Hotel de Beauvais, the Place Sainte-Marthe and the courtyard of the Conservatoire Hector Berlioz. During the festival, free comedy workshops will be held for children near the Place Sainte Marthe. Afterward, they can perform on stage in costume for their parents and friends.
Mariana Nunes, a festival director, recommended the commedia dell’artre group Teatro Picaro and their performance of “Fabula Buffa,” which has been performed in Italy, Spain, Portugal and France. She also suggested her own company’s “Mecanique du Signe” (Mechanics of the Sign), which uses masks, costumes and marionettes, as well as “Cabarets Nomades” (Nomad Cabarets), which will honor a different artist each night.
All performances are open to the public; some are free, others cost between 9 to 14 euros (about $13 to $20.50).