Jean Anouilh – författare

A selection of the most enduring work of one of this century's best-known French playwrights Jean Anouilh (1910-87) along with Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, was at the forefront of the post-war generation of playwrights in Paris. In England his plays were championed by Peter Brook. Antigone is a response to the German occupation of France and established his popularity in 1944 (the Germans ironically, thought that it was a pro-Nazi in its portrayal of King Creon and thus allowed its production); Poor Bitos, Anouilh's angriest play explores the act of judicial murder and The Lark is a version of the Joan of Arc story. All three plays show his fondness for reworking myth, history and legend. Meanwhile Leocadia, about an opera singer who dies after a three day love affair with a prince and The Waltz of the Toreadors, about a general whose mistress attempts to prove his wife's infidelity, represent another talent - for ironic, modern comedy."Anouilh is a poet but not a poet of words, he is a poet of words-acted, of scenes-set, of players-performing." (Peter Brook)

Antigone was originally produced in Paris in 1942, when France was occupied and part of Hitler's Europe. The play depicts an authoritarian regime which mirrors the predicament of the French people of the time. Based on Sophocles' ancient Greek tragedy, Antigone which was first performed in Athens in the 5th century BC, its theme was nevertheless topical. For in Antigone's faithfulness to her dead brother and his proper burial and her reiterated "No!" to the dictator Creon, the French audience saw its own resistance to the German occupation. The Germans allowed the play to be performed presumably because they found Creon's arguments for dictatorship so convincing. The play is regularly performed and studied around the world. "Anouilh is a poet, but not a poet of words: he is a poet of words-acted, of scenes-set, of players-performing" Peter Brook

When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, Henry II forced his companion and political lieutenant, Thomas Becket to take his place. Becket told his King: 'If I become archbishop, I shall cease to be your friend.' Becekt, who with Henry had fought the church for the good of the State, now felt responsible for the honour of God. Conflict was inevitable and was followed, just as inevitably, by murder and remorse.

'Anouilh is a poet, but not of words: he is a poet of words-acted, of scenes-set, of players-performing' Peter Brook Jean Anouilh, one of the foremost French playwrights of the twentieth century, replaced the mundane realist works of the previous era with his innovative dramas, which exploit fantasy, tragic passion, scenic poetry and cosmic leaps in time and space. Antigone, his best-known play, was performed in 1944 in Nazi-controlled Paris and provoked fierce controversy. In defying the tyrant Creon and going to her death, Antigone conveyed to Anouilh's compatriots a covert message of heroic resistance; but the author's characterisaation of Creon also seemed to exonerate Marshal Petain and his fellow collaborators. More ambivalent than his ancient model, Sophocles, Anouilh uses Greek myth to explore the disturbing moral dilemmas of our times. Commentary and notes by Ted Freeman.

A selection of the most enduring work of one of this century's best-known French playwrights This selection of plays by Jean Anouilh (1910-87), includes The Rehearsal ('quintissential Anouilh', Herald Tribune); Becket ('witty, intelligent, full of repartee and irreverence' Financial Times); The Orchestra (a play within a concert), together with Eurydice, an ironic modern reworkng of the myth ('a fascinating piece', Financial Times)."Anouilh is a poet but not a poet of words, he is a poet of words-acted, of scenes-set, of players-performing." (Peter Brook)

Anouilh's classic historical tale of conflict between church and state, in a major new translation by Frederic and Stephen RaphaelIn Becket, Anouilh presents the history of England under Henry II as if it was France under German occupation. As Henry's long-time political playmate, Thomas's elevation to Archbishop of Canterbury forces him to sacrifice the love of his leader for his newfound love of the church:"If I become archbishop I shall cease to be your friend".Becket was first produced at the Théâtre Montparnasse in 1959."Witty, intelligent, full of repartee and irreverence...it can hold an audience spellbound" (Financial Times)This new translation is published to tie in with a production of the play opening at London's Theatre Royal, Haymarket.

Radical new translation of the Jean Anouilh classic

Delachume, a charming young man, is married to a rich, hysterical wife; they live in luxury in Paris, and their worldly goods are shared by Georges' parents and his best friend Jacques, not to mention Jacques' wife Barbara, all of whom have been in comfort for years. Then into Georges' life comes Isabelle, a quiet young girl with a kind heart and humble upbringing. Georges succumbs to a longing for an uncomplicated life - shared, of course, with Isabelle. He spins stories for her about his family life and for one night he hires house, servants and stage parents, but his real family materalize, and Isabelle discovers the truth.-6 women, 6 men

To the great lords of her time as well as the politicians of the Church expediency was God. So the Maid had to die. So to Warwick and Cauchon, her life has the'somewhat artificial, and certainly impersonal, quality of a play. Short scenes from it are played out during the trial as they struggle to turn her simplicity into heresy. But it is the glory of her life rather than the tragedy that is the triumphant climax of the play.5 women, 13 men

Traveller Without Luggage is an intense and bittersweet drama of family, identity and redemption, written in 1936 by Jean Anouilh, and translated by John Whiting. A man is found in 1918 on a railway siding, having come off a train loaded with returning prisoners of war. He has amnesia, and nothing is known about him.-5 women, 7 men

Now retired, the General tries to keep old age at bay by dallying with every available pretty woman. His wife Emily, a determined invalid, perpetually complains of her husband's peccadilloes. Seventeen years ago, as they danced to the Waltz of the Toreadors, the General and Ghislaine de Ste Euvert fell in love. Ghislaine has waited, chaste and faithful, for the day when the General will be free of Emily. Now she comes to claim her man, armed with letters that prove Emily has been unfaithful.-7 women, 4 men

Jean Anouilh's sharp and witty new play, which enjoyed a season at the Queen's Theatre, London, centres around the ageing, gout-stricken and passe playwright Leon Saint-Pe, as he struggles manfully to being a new play, provisionally entitled Les Miserables, despite the constant interruptions and selfish demands of his utterly egocentric family and friends. A master of the art of dramatic contrivance, Anouilh displays his usual stylish blend of cynicism and subtle irony when he has Leon, eventually deciding that everyone on earth is wholly self-centred, rechristen his play, Number One.5 women, 5 men

As they play their little pieces of music, the ladies of the brasserie orchestra (and the solitary male pianist) reveal seething volcanoes under the placid exterior. Jealousy, gossip, boasting and thwarted emotions climax in one of them shooting herself in the toilets - but the music goes jauntily on.6 women, 1 man

Frederic, who is shy and sensitive, and Hugo, who is heartless and aggressive. Frederic is in love with a hussy who is in love with Hugo. To save Frederic from an unhappy marriage, Hugo tries to distract him by bringing to a ball a beautiful dancer who masquerades as a mysterious personage and becomes the triumph of the occasion. She is a susceptible maiden in her own right. She not only breaks up all the cynical romances that have been going on before she arrived, but loses her own heart as well.6 women, 8 men

Full Length, Tragedy / 8m, 4f Produced in modern dress in New York with Katherine Cornell and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, the Galantiere version of the Greek legend comes from a Paris that suffered under the heel of tyranny. The play's parallels to modern times are exciting and provocative. "Its dimensions are noble, its intentions uncompromising."-Southwestern University, Texas

In this modern classic written by Jean Anouilh and translated by Christopher Nixon, the body of Polynices, Antigone's brother, has been ordered to remain unburied by Creon, the new king of Thebes. Antigone's faithfulness to her dead brother and his proper burial, and her defiance of the dictator Creon, seals her fate. Originally produced in Paris during the Nazi occupation, Anouilh's Antigone was seen by the French as theatre of the resistance and by the Germans as an affirmation of authority. Runtime: 1:58

Waiting to be punished for his part in Becket's murder, King Henry II re-lives his deeply felt relationship with the saint, once his dearest friend and partner in unbridled decadence. His catastrophic mistake? To appoint Becket Archbishop*for Becket finds his allegiance shifting from king and country to God and Church. Runtime: 1:57