Photo : Mathieu De La Porte, via le site officiel La Fonderie (lafonderie.fr)
La Fonderie
Creation and performance venue of the Théâtre du Radeau (François Tanguy).
What's on
Practical info
Tram
T1 — Lafayette stop, 60 m · wheelchair-accessible stop
Bus
Line 16 — Lafayette stop, 60 m · wheelchair-accessible stop
Parking
Parking right in front (paid, surface lot)
Data: SETRAM / Le Mans Métropole (GTFS, Open Licence), © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
More about La Fonderie
La Fonderie covers 4,200 m² at 2 rue de la Fonderie, fitted out over the decades by the Théâtre du Radeau, the company directed by François Tanguy. It is not a programmed performance venue in the classic sense. The place is first and foremost a space for creation, work and experimentation, where companies and artists from theater, dance, music and writing are in residence. For more than a decade, the “Ateliers Généraux” have explored the links between social life and artistic issues. Closed to creative residencies in July and August.
A bit of history
The building was first a foundry, then a car dealership from the 1960s to the 1980s. Bought by the Communauté urbaine du Mans, it has housed the Théâtre du Radeau since 1985. The troupe, founded in Le Mans in 1977 and joined by François Tanguy in 1982, then occupied just a few dozen square meters, shared with other municipal departments. The venue, inaugurated as La Fonderie in 1992, has grown steadily to its current 4,200 m². The name was chosen to evoke the site's past activity as much as the spirit of creation, work and mixing that animates it today.