Armand Camille Salacrou (9 August 1899 – 23 November 1989) was a French
dramatist
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
.
Biography
He was born in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...
, but spent most of his childhood at
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
, and moved to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
in 1917. His first works show the influence of the
Surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
s.
He was the owner of a profitable advertising firm, but sold it in order to devote his time to writing plays. Encouraged by
Charles Dullin
Charles Dullin (; 8 May 1885 – 11 December 1949) was a French actor, theater manager and director.
Career
Dullin began his career as an actor in melodrama:185 In 1908, he started his first troupe with Saturnin Fabre, the ''Théâtre de Foire ...
, he wrote in a wide range of styles and enjoyed great success from the mid-1930s. His later work is usually grouped with that of the
Existentialists. He flirted with
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
during the 1920s and criticized capitalism in his play ''Boulevard Durand''. During the Nazi occupation of France, he participated in the clandestine
French resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
, an experience which he celebrated in ''Les Nuits de la colère''.
He was a member of the
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de G ...
, and a library in his home town is named after him.
Plays
* 1923 : ''Magasin d'accessoires'', ''Histoire de cirque'', ''Le Casseur d'assiettes'', ''Les Trente Tombes de Judas''
* 1924 : ''La Boule de Verre''
* 1925 : ''Le Pont de l'Europe''
* 1925 : ''Tour à terre''
* 1927 : ''Patchouli, ou Les Désordres de l'amour''
* 1929 : ''Atlas-Hôtel'', ''Les Frénétiques''
* 1931 : ''La Vie en Rose''
* 1933 : ''
Une femme libre'', ''Poof''
* 1935 : ''L'Inconnue d'Arras''
* 1936 : ''Un homme comme les autres''
* 1937 : ''La terre est ronde''
* 1939 : ''Histoire de rire''
* 1941 : ''La Marguerite''
* 1944 : ''Les Fiancés du Havre''
* 1945 : ''Le Soldat et la sorcière''
* 1946 : ''Les Nuits de la colère''
* 1946 : ''L'Archipel Lenoir, ou Il ne faut pas toucher aux choses inutiles'', ''Pourquoi pas moi?''
* 1950 : ''Dieu le savait, ou la Vie n'est pas sérieuse''
* 1952 : ''Sens Interdit, ou Les Âges de la Vie''
* 1953 : ''Les Invités du Bon Dieu''
* 1953 : ''Une femme trop honnête, ou Tout est dans la façon de le dire''
* 1954 : ''Le Miroir''
* 1959 : ''Boulevard Durand''
* 1964 : ''Comme les Chardons''
* 1966 : ''La Rue Noire''
Bibliography
* J. van den Esch. ''Armand Salacrou, dramaturge de l'angoisse.'' Paris, 1947
* David Looseley. ''A Search for Commitment: the Theatre of Armand Salacrou.'' University of Exeter, 1985.
* Juris Silenieks. ''Themes and Dramatic Forms in the Plays of Armand Salacrou.'' University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1967.
* Fiorenza di Franco. ''Le théâtre de Salacrou.'' Gallimard, Paris, 1970.
* Annie Ubersfeld. ''Armand Salacrou.'' Seghers, Paris, 1970.
* Philippe Bébon. ''Salacrou.'' Éditions universitaires, Paris, 1971.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salacrou, Armand
Writers from Le Havre
1899 births
1989 deaths
French Resistance members
20th-century French dramatists and playwrights