Biography
Jean-Marie Besset was born in Carcassonne and grew up in the nearby small town of Limoux in Southwest France until completing his Baccalaureat in 1977. Holding degrees in business from ESSEC (1981) and political science from IEP Paris (1984), he spent twelve years dividing his time between Paris and New York. In 1999-2000, he returned to France to serve as the artistic director of the Théâtre de l'Atelier, a historic Parisian theater acquired by Laura Pels. Since 2000, alongside producer and director Gilbert Désveaux, he co-founded BCDV theater to launch and develop projects, including the summer theatre festival NAVA (New Authors in the Aude Valley). From 2010 to 2013, the pair managed the National Theatre (CDN) in Montpellier.
His body of work includes plays such as Villa Luco, The Function, What You Get And What You Expect (which premiered at NYTW in 2000), The Best Of Schools (Grande Ecole), A Commentary On Love, Rue de Babylone, The Greeks, Perthus, The Girl On The Train, I Don't Want To Marry, and The Banquet At Auteuil.
In addition, he has translated into French the works of playwrights Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Will Eno, Alan Bennett, Michael Frayn, and Tom Stoppard.
Several of his plays or adaptations have been made into films, including Grande Ecole (directed by Robert Salis, 2004), The Girl On The Train (directed by André Téchiné, 2008), and Life Of Riley (directed by Alain Resnais, 2014).
