Stéphane Varupenne ・ Comédie-Française

Following his training in dramatic arts, as well as trombone and guitar at the Lille Conservatoire, Stéphane Varupenne enrolled at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse in Paris. He continued his training at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique until 2007, the year he was admitted at the Comédie-Française. He became sociétaire in 2015.

One of his first roles within the Company was the Journalist in Trois hommes dans un salon after an interview conducted by François-René Cristiani with Brel, Brassens and Ferré staged by Anne Kessler in 2008, a director he reunited with in 2015 for La Double inconstance by Marivaux. Muriel Mayette-Holtz directed him in Marivaux’s La Dispute, Dario Fo's Mystère bouffe et fabulages (version 1) and (version 2), Racine's Andromache and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Éric Ruf directed him in Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, while Denis Podalydès entrusted him with playing Le Bret in Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac and later Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia by Victor Hugo.

Varupenne’s work with renowned directors demonstrates his ability to embody a great range of characters. Stéphane Braunschweig offered him the title role in Racine’s Britannicus, Jean-Yves Ruf staged him as Troilus in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, Jacques Lassalle entrusted him with the role of Alain in Molière’s The School for Wives (L’École des femmes), while Catherine Hiegel cast him as Valère in Molière’s The Miser (L’Avare). Alain Françon directed him in Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, and later in Edward Bond’s The Sea, while Jérôme Deschamps cast him in Un fil à la patte by Georges Feydeau. In order to work on Alfred Jarry’s Ubu roi in 2009, he reunited with Jean-Pierre Vincent who had directed him the year before in The School for Wives at the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe. Julie Deliquet directed him in Vania after Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and Robert Carsen offered him Caliban’s part when he staged Shakespeare’s The Tempest Salle Richelieu.

Within the Company, directors have put Stéphane Varupenne’s musical training to good use. He has participated in Chansons déconseillées written and directed by Philippe Meyer and in Cabaret Boris Vian by Serge Bagdassarian. He portrayed Mike Bloomfield in Comme une pierre qui… by Marie Rémond and Sébastien Pouderoux. In 2011, he played in Brecht’s Threepenny Opera directed by Laurent Pelly, and in 2016, in Le Cerf et le Chien after Marcel Aymé directed by Véronique Vella.

Outside of the Comédie-Française, Stéphane Varupenne has played in a number of orchestras, from big band jazz to those focusing on the French song. Over two seasons, he worked as an actor with the Paris Orchestra on educational concerts for school-aged children. He excelled when he recited as part of the Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse’s rendition of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale and when the Opéra national de Paris staged a Guillaume Apollinaire’s homage interpreted by the tenor Yann Beuron. In September 2017, together with the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, he presented Stravinsky’s Firebird at the Paris Philharmonic.

Along with collaborations with Dominique Cabrera et Anne Villacèque on television, Valéria Bruni Tedeschi directed Stéphane Varupenne in her adaptation of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters and Zabou Breitman worked with him on the Paris etc. series which was broadcast in 2017. On film, he could be seen in features directed by Alix Delporte, Roschdy Zem and Michel Hazanavicius.

During the 2018/2019 season, Stéphane Varupenne will be playing in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night Or What You Will by Thomas Ostermeier, Goldoni’s La Locandiera by Alain Françon and Les Serge (Gainsbourg Point Barre) written and directed with Sébastien Pouderoux and in the rerun of Racine’s Britannicus by Stéphane Braunschweig.