''The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs'' (French: ''La Vie singulière d'Albert Nobbs'') is a play by French author Simone Benmussa. Based on a novella by George Moore, the drama tells the story of a 19th-century woman who disguises herself as a man to avoid poverty. The role of Albert Nobbs was originated by French actress

Juliet Berto Juliet Berto (16 January 1947 – 10 January 1990), born Annie Jamet, was a French actress, director and screenwriter. A member of the same loose group of student radicals as Anne Wiazemsky, she first appeared in Jean-Luc Godard's ''Two or Three ...

. The drama premiered in November 1977 at the

Théâtre d'Orsay The théâtre d'Orsay was a theater located on the rive gauche of the Seine, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris It was inaugurated in 1972 in the former gare d'Orsay originally conceived by the architect Victor Laloux in 1898. Jean-Louis Barra ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

Synopsis

Having spent much of his life disguised as a man, Dublin hotel butler Albert Nobbs is shocked when he meets a female painter, Hubert Page, who is also living as a man. Upon seeing Hubert's happy domestic situation, Albert resolves to set up a similar arrangement for himself.

Cast History

Performance history

The play's English-language version premiered on 27 June 1978 at

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

New End Theatre The New End Theatre, Hampstead, was an 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, at 27 New End in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011. It was founded in 1974 by Buddy Dalton in the converted mortuary of the now-de ...

with Susannah York in the lead. Translated by Barbara Wright, it was subsequently staged in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with Maddalena Cripa and in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

with

Jane Brennan Jane Brennan is an Irish actress. Primarily known for her work on the stage, she played Mary Lacey in the Academy Award-nominated film ''Brooklyn''. She also had a recurring role as Lady Margaret Bryan on the series ''The Tudors''. She is the c ...

. In 1982, ''Albert Nobbs'' premiered Off-Broadway at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Manhattan Theater Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has ...

with

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

in the main role. She won an Obie Award for Best Actress for her performance as Nobbs. A version starring Judy Braha ran at Boston's New Ehrlich Theatre in 1984. The original French production was revived in Paris in 1988 with

Aurore Clément Aurore Clément (born 12 October 1945) is a French actress who has appeared in French and English language movies and television productions. Early life She was born Marie-Thérèse Aurore Louise Clément in Soissons. Following the death of her ...

in the title role. She won a Révélation Théâtrale prize from the Syndicat de la Critique Dramatique for her performance.

Adaptations

In 2011 the play was made into a film directed by Rodrigo García and starring

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, The English-language plays French-language plays 1977 plays Plays set in Dublin (city) French plays adapted into films Off-Broadway plays Plays based on books Cross-dressing in literature