Leïla Slimani at the Fronteiras do Pensamento series in São Paulo, in June 2018. The novelist already appears there as a public voice, between literature, cultural policy and social debate. Credits: Fronteiras do Pensamento / Greg Salibian, via Wikimedia Commons.
La Comédie-Française has unveiled its 2026–2027 season. This is the first conceived by Clément Hervieu-Léger since his arrival at the head of the institution in August 2025. Thomas Jolly will sign an entry into the Répertoire with La Tour de Nesle. Leïla Slimani will write her first text for the theater. The Comédie-Française programming combines the reopening of Richelieu, public partnerships and contemporary creations.
A Season To Reinstall Richelieu
According to the official page for the 2026–2027 season, the program brings together 26 productions. It will open in the Salle Richelieu on October 15, 2026 with Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo, directed by Julie Duclos. This return to the main venue serves as a launching pad for a season that aims to show more than a reprise. It announces 14 premieres, new entries to the Répertoire and partnerships that move the house beyond its walls.
Thomas Jolly, Dumas and The Outdoors
The most spectacular signing is Thomas Jolly. The director led the ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He will make his debut at the Comédie-Française with La Tour de Nesle. This drama by Alexandre Dumas is announced as a creation and an entry into the Répertoire.
His arrival changes the symbolic scale of the season. Jolly brings to Molière’s house a stage language associated with large-scale pageants. He also comes with open formats and a deliberately popular address. For the Comédie-Française, the stake goes beyond inviting a media figure from the post-Games moment. With a 19th-century classic, it is testing a broader, more event-driven way of keeping the Répertoire alive.
The play will be performed from July 1 to 31, 2027 in the Tuileries Garden. The partnership involves the Paris l’été Festival and the Louvre museum. The official note specifies that the reprise in the Salle Richelieu will take place during the 2027–2028 season, with no cast published yet. The choice of outdoors is not mere décor. Dumas there returns close to the historical imagination of the lost tower, on the banks of the Seine. Jolly, for his part, willingly conceives theater as a collective appointment.
This gesture also says something about the new leadership. Clément Hervieu-Léger does not present the Répertoire as a museum. He treats it as material to be moved: into places, formats and alliances. The Louvre here gives a symbolic framework to a popular 19th-century work. The Comédie-Française thus extends its experience beyond its walls.
Leïla Slimani, Tolstoy and Decentralization
The other strong announcement concerns Leïla Slimani. With Resurrection. A Matter Of Conscience, the Franco-Moroccan author signs her first text for the theater. Winner of the 2016 Prix Goncourt, she writes at the invitation of Simon Delétang based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy. The official schedule lists the production from November 25, 2026 to January 3, 2027 at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier.
The play will be born first in Lorient in October 2026, then tour before Paris. In an interview with Le Monde, Clément Hervieu-Léger defends this logic of cooperation. He wants the Comédie-Française to work with the national dramatic centers. He also advocates using public money to serve a network broader than just Place Colette.
The subject of Resurrection continues this orientation. The text follows a juror who recognizes a defendant he crossed paths with in his youth and understands his share of responsibility in her social fall. The Comédie-Française presents the adaptation as a reflection on the violence of social structures and the refusal of an easy absolution.
A Cultural Ambition Under Constraint
The season also plays out on a tighter financial field. BFM TV, with AFP, reports that the €5 lowest price is maintained. Some high-end full-price seats rise from €48 to €56. The same article mentions €43.5 million in expenditures in 2025. It cites €40 million in revenues and an anticipated deficit around €6 million in 2026.
In this context, artistic choices take on particular relief. By entrusting Dumas to Jolly and Tolstoy to Slimani, the Comédie-Française seeks to speak to several audiences. There are those who come for the heritage. There are those who follow major contemporary names. And there are those whom partnerships with the Louvre, Lorient or other stages can attract away from Place Colette. The 2026–2027 season does not promise a revolution. It offers a first idea of Hervieu-Léger’s method: opening the frame without abandoning the Répertoire.