Modern French Theatre [antikvár]

PREFACEThis book is not intended to be a systematic study oL contemporary French theatre. All the facts and dates are not included, although the most important can be found in the Appendices. The following chapters deal primarily with those playwrights who have proved to be or show promise of becoming first rate and describe in general terms the dramatic universe of each. If neither Sacha Guitry, nor Madame Simone, nor Maurice Rostand, nor André Roussin are considered, the reasons for omitting them will soon become apparent; while if Super vielle, Georges Neveux, André Obey, and Marcel Achard are barely mentioned (or not mentioned at all), it is only because they unfortunately wrote at the same time as others greater than they.From Jean Giraudoux to Ionesco and Beckett, French theatre has exploited a marked and powerful trend that began with the revolution of 1890 and other works outside the trend now seem insignificant. For the last thirty years it has been a theatre of exploration. Its objective has not been to offer ready-made solutions, either on the level of form or of substance; it does not give reassuring answers to everyday problems, nor does it flatter the public's esthetic lethargy with established forms. Each writer, rather than just tell a story in more or less dramatic form, has tried to express the human condition metaphorically. In comparing American and French theatre of the fifties Robert Brustein has remarked:While we are trying to come to terms with human conditioning, the French are trying to explore the boundaries of human limitation; while we are seeking security, ease, and happiness within the social unit, the French are seek-vii