Catherine Dasté
1929–2026French theatre director and actress who pioneered youth theatre and founded the first Centre dramatique pour l'enfance.
Particulars
Catherine Dasté was born in 1929 into a theatrical family, the daughter of Jean and Marie-Hélène Dasté, both prominent figures in French theatre. She became one of the first women theatre directors in France and played a major role in the institutional recognition of youth theatre.
She founded the company La Pomme verte, which created performances based on children's voices, and established the first Centre dramatique pour l'enfance at the Sartrouville theatre with support from child psychoanalyst Françoise Dolto. From 1985 to 1992, she directed the neighbourhood theatre in Ivry-sur-Seine.
Her contributions to French theatre were recognized with a colloquium at Sorbonne Nouvelle University in November 2025, which examined her multifaceted career as actress, director, author, pedagogue, and theatre company and venue director. She died in August 2026 at age 96 in Ivry-sur-Seine.
Compiled from source reports. Automated record.