Theater with a purpose – bringing joy beyond the HEC Paris campus

Created just three years ago at HEC Paris, Coeur Comédien combines artistic ambition with social commitment. The association adapts classical comedies and performs them free of charge to audiences who are often isolated, vulnerable or sometimes overlooked. To find out more, we reached out to Lucas Letonturier Gilbert, Partnerships Manager for Coeur Comédien. 
 

TAKING THEATER BEYOND THE CAMPUS WALLS

The idea behind Coeur Comédien emerged from a simple observation. HEC Paris already had several artistic and theatrical associations, but their performances were primarily for campus audiences. Three students decided to challenge that model by bringing theater to people who would not normally experience it.

Every semester, the association works collectively on a theatrical production, usually adapting classic French comedies by playwrights such as Molière or Marivaux. After several months of rehearsals, the students perform their play in local nursing homes, retirement homes, hospitals and schools in disadvantaged areas.

The productions themselves are carefully adapted for these audiences. Performances typically last less than one hour - long enough to immerse audiences in the story, but short enough to maintain attention and energy. The adaptations are both artistic and practical. Dialogue is sometimes modernised or simplified to ensure accessibility, while staging and sets are designed to be portable and minimalist. Transporting a full theatrical set from one care home to another would be very difficult.

The association is fortunate have Vincent Breton from the prestigious Comédie Française as their director. He helps the students transform simplicity into theatrical magic. With only a few curtains and carefully chosen staging techniques, entire worlds emerge on stage.

WHAT THE MEMBERS GAIN

Although the association exists to serve others, Coeur Comédien also has a profound impact on its members. For Lucas, the first and perhaps most immediate reward is friendship. Rehearsing several evenings a week, spending weekends together preparing productions and travelling to performances, creates strong bonds. The artistic dimension is equally important. Many members arrive with varying levels of theatrical experience, but all develop confidence through performing.

Beyond the stage, the association also offers students valuable professional experience. As Partnerships Manager, Lucas has spent much of the year seeking sponsorships, applying for subsidies and pitching the association’s vision to organizations and competition juries.

Earlier this year, Coeur Comédien won third prize at the prestigious Carrefour HEC Associations competition, earning some precious funding - a major achievement for such a young association competing against long-established student organizations.

“This sort of recognition is important – it shows that people believe in what we do.” Lucas states. 

BRINGING JOY WHERE IT IS NEEDED MOST

If Coeur Comédien’s members gain confidence, friendship and experience, their audiences gain something equally precious - moments of joy, escape and human connection. Nowhere is this more visible than in the nursing homes where the association regularly performs.

Having a grandparent in a nursing home himself, Lucas understands how difficult it can be for staff to provide stimulating activities for residents. Theater performances are rare. Concerts or conferences are more common, but live comedy performed by young students is something entirely different. The performances quickly become events - highlights of the week eagerly anticipated by residents. After each show, the students stay behind to talk with audiences, and these moments of exchange are just as meaningful as the performance itself.

The association’s impact also extends to disadvantaged schools. Last year, Coeur Comédien performed for pupils supported by Fleur de Bitume, an HEC Paris association that provides tutoring for high-school students in disadvantaged areas. After the play, the actors organized a theater workshop and improvisation sessions with the pupils.

“They really played the game,” Lucas recalls. “They improvised, they laughed, they let go.”

For the association’s members, the experience revealed something fundamental about theater itself. Acting allows people to step outside themselves, express emotions freely and temporarily become someone else. In that sense, theater becomes more than an art form - it becomes a tool for confidence, equality and liberation.

WHY THEIR MISSION MATTERS

In a world increasingly dominated by individualism, Coeur Comédien offers something profoundly human - shared laughter and a real sense of connection. In difficult environments that can be marked by loneliness, illness or hardship, laughter has a unique healing power. In nursing homes particularly, even a small moment of joy can make a meaningful difference.

Lucas also firmly believes that comedy teaches students not to take themselves and life in general too seriously. Theater is all about having the freedom to let go and being able to laugh at yourself. In a recent production, for example, Coeur Comédien didn’t have enough actresses for all the female characters, so Lucas himself performed one of the female roles wearing a wig and makeup. “It really made everyone laugh,” he says.

Yet despite its growing impact and success, the association still faces challenges. Financial sustainability remains perhaps the most pressing one. Portable sets, costumes and professional artistic direction all require funding, and the association is still seeking long-term sponsors capable of supporting its development. For Lucas, securing that stability is essential not only for the association’s future, but for the continuation of its social mission.

A SMALL STAGE, A POWERFUL IMPACT

What makes Coeur Comédien stand out is not the scale of its productions, but the sincerity of its purpose. With limited budgets, modest costumes and portable sets, the students manage to create something deeply meaningful - moments of laughter shared between generations, social groups and worlds that rarely meet.

The mission of Coeur Comédien goes beyond theater alone. It is about making a difference and reminding people - audiences and performers alike - of the importance of joy, empathy and emotional connection.