Having trained as an actor, René Gonzalez ran the Théâtre Gérard Philipe de Saint-Denis and the Maison de la culture de Bobigny (MC93), on the outskirts of Paris, and opened the Opéra Bastille (1989) before moving to Switzerland to run the Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne from 1990 until his death in April 2012. For over 20 years, he threw Switzerland’s doors open to renowned artists, as well as giving new voices a chance, too. He turned this major Swiss theatre into the meeting place for the most imaginative minds in the performing arts – where directors like Peter Brook, Thomas Ostermeier, Bob Wilson, Jacques Lassalle, Gérard Desarthe and Krystian Lupa all presented their work.
Gonzalez’s friends describe the time they spent in the company of this uncommon character. The book includes an unpublished interview with René Gonzalez, reminiscences from 66 French and Swiss artists and intellectuals – actors, directors, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and philosophers – who describe the utopian ideals and commitments of a man for whom theatre was everything. Contributors include Zabou Breitman, Gérard Desarthe, Françoise Courvoisier, James Thierrée, Muriel Mayette-Holtz, Michel Orier, Yeung Faï, Patricia Plattner, Roger Jendly, Joël Jouanneau, Valère Novarina and Giovanna Marini. There are also excerpts from handwritten correspondence with Michel Piccoli as well as a hand-written letter from Jean-Luc Godard.

A year after his death, this is a moving tribute to the man who turned the theatre by the water into one of the most innovative stages in Europe.