"Shakespeare is more than a classic author. An exceptional humanity and philosophy were born out of his texts. His theatre is as popular as it is deep!” delights Irina, the Director of the Théâtre National de Nice (TNN). What could be better than the Gym’s players delivering this message? 

Invited by the TNN to participate in the 4th edition of the Shake Nice festival, dedicated to the British playwright which takes place from 24 January until 11 February. OGC Nice accepted the challenge to put its players up against the greatest author in the world, Shakespeare!

Guided by Irina Brook and facing the camera, they discovered or rediscovered famous lines written by the English playwright that they then interpreted. 

The result was surprising and the mini-film of their performances was shown on Thursday evening in their presence at an event organised by the Passionnément TNN association on the occasion of the premiere of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”.

"Shake Nice!" is the only French festival dedicated to the British playwright to be recognized by the European Shakespeare Festival Network (ESFN).

Jean-Pierre Rivère: “Like in football, theatre allows you to live emotions. This is what links OGC Nice, Passionnément TNN and the Théâtre National de Nice. This link makes complete sense in projects like these, an opportunity and desire to share his passion. To allow as many people as possible to (re)discover Shakespeare is a fabulous thing. And to promote it, our players got really into the game. Not the game that they do so well on the pitch, but the game that is usually reserved to comedians on stage, to be able to bring our support to the 'Shake Nice’ festival.”

Irina Brook, Director of TNN: “To make OGC Nice do theatre is a dream that I have had for many years. We needed to help the players to relax. They came out of it even bigger, even stronger. We were moved by the beauty of these footballers on screen. Thanks to them, we see that Shakespeare belongs to everybody and can inspire and touch the most unexpected actors. He gives off an exceptional humanity and philosophy in his texts. The players took the words of Shakespeare, and made us discover the beauty of a language which often speaks to the soul, passing by the spirit. The club proved its originality, its openness, and its curiosity by accepting this challenge.” 

Benjamin Mondou, President of ”Passionnément TNN”: “In November 2016, we had our first Passionnément TNN evening, with a clear objective: help everybody to discover theatre. To bring together as many as possible, we put sport at the forefront and invited OGC Nice. From that evening on, a real relationship was born between these two worlds which at first sight seem so different. Since then, OGC Nice are present at all of our events. The year was then filled with events and occasion further linking the two Nice based organisations. Today, the association now proudly displays this new iconoclastic concept. Irina Brook had this crazy project and we are proud to have been able to bring our support to the project and for it to become reality. That the professional players take on works from Shakespeare! The ‘Shake Nice!’ festival speaks to youngsters and it’s a formidable way of making Shakespeare accessible for them.”

Photos : Fred Habrioux

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