The Death of Empedocles

Philippe Lanton studied clinical psychology; he discovered the theatre in the early 1980s and attended courses at the Charles-Dullin School. Fr om 1980-1985 he was an analytical psychotherapist at a hospital, where he also started a theatre workshop for the psychically sick. From 1985 onwards he devoted himself entirely to the theatre, and founded his own company, the “Cartel’’, whose vocation is directed towards the German theatre from the 18th century to the present. The “Cartel” found a residence at the Filature in Mulhouse, wh ere it released a series of productions, including Heiner Midler’s 'Heracles V, G. E. Lessing’s Minna von Bamheim', a cycle of Brecht's plays (1995-6), G. Buchner's 'Danton's Death', and Roland Fichet's 'The Promised Land'. At present, Lanton and the 'Cartel' work on the myth of 'Faust'. In 2005 the company will produce a version of Faust by the contemporary Quebecois writer Jacques Languirand.

Katsura Kan was bom in 1948 he studied Japanese literature at the Buddhist University of Kyoto; then he trained in the Noh Theatre for seven years with Hiroto Yukitoshi. He also devoted himself to butoh dance and became very soon a master in this art. In 1986 he founded his company Katsura Kan and Saltimbanco'.