ABOUT THE COMPANY,
THE THEATRE DU SHABANO

Growing up, children are natural philosophers, in tune with their feelings.
Plays provide us with a chance to accompany children through the different questions they will face as they grow into their future.
We firmly believe that what happens onstage can make a lasting impression on young audiences.

« My father was born on the edge of the Amazon.
I think that is why storytelling and its relationship to the sacred
and to popular culture have always fascinated me. . »

Fascinated by Theatrical Anthropology and the legends of South America, Valentina Arce came to children’s theater through the adaptation of fairytales and myths after studying in Paris (École Charles Dullin and Theater Studies at the Université Paris VIII), as well as studying directing at the National Institute of the Performing Arts in Belgium and Quechua at the National Institute of Oriental Languages.

After doing field work for the city hall of Saint-Denis (in France’s 93rd department), and searching for a way to reach young audiences across the cultural diversity she encountered there, the Peruvian director found her answer in myths and legends, and particularly in the traces of the supernatural found there.

Mother of three Franco-Peruvian children, she strives to be a bridge, to stay close to the Latin-American literature and imagination of her childhood. Amaranta, her most recent creation, is the adaptation of a contemporary tale by the Columbian storyteller Nicolas Buenaventura. Her upcoming production will be an adaptation of Le Bleu des Abeilles (The Blue of Bees), written by Argentinian author Laura Alcoba, published by Gallimard in 2013. It will be the Théâtre du Shabano’s 7th original production.