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.

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