Théâtre du Chêne noir

The Théâtre du Chêne noir is identified by its sober, medieval stone facade tucked into the tight labyrinth of the Saint-Pierre district. It occupies a fourteenth-century convent, but its identity as a stage began in nineteen sixty-six when actor Gérard Gelas turned the hollowed-out chapel into a space for contemporary drama. He hauled out the debris himself, creating an intimate theater that survived decades of funding crises by staging plays that often mocked the political elite while the nearby Papal Palace loomed over them.