''The Line'' is a 2009 play by British dramatist

Timberlake Wertenbaker Timberlake Wertenbaker is a British-based playwright, screenplay writer, and translator who has written plays for the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company and others. She has been described in ''The Washington Post'' as "the doyenne of po ...

about the relationship between

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Printmaking, prints ...

and

Suzanne Valadon Suzanne Valadon (23 September 18657 April 1938) was a French painter who was born Marie-Clémentine Valadon at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1894, Valadon became the first woman painter admitted to the Société Nationale des ...

. Set in " the intimate, if quarrelsome world of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

", at the play's heart are " a leading artist, a protegee and a clash between traditions, lifestyles and eras." The 2009 London production of the play starred

Henry Goodman Henry Goodman (born 23 April 1950) is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre. Early life He attended the Central Foundation Boys' School and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, ...

as Degas and

Sarah Smart Sarah Smart (born 3 March 1977) is an English actress. Early life Smart was born on 3 March 1977 in Birmingham, England and lived in Northfield until 1987. She was a pupil of St Paul's School for Girls in Birmingham. Career Her career star ...

as Valadon. Wertenbaker has stated that she began with Valadon because someone had given her a biography which she found fascinating. In the biography she came across Degas and the relationship between the two intrigued Wertenbaker. image:Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas 029.jpg, left, 180px,

, "..a crotchety, acclaimed artist. Those sensual drawings of young women bathing and dancing turn out to be the product of a rather curmudgeonly and celibate character in his own life.." Valadon called Degas the Master, but Wertenbaker believes he also learned from her. "He loved her drawings and he did imitate them...I think he may also have learned other things from her; that there was another way of living, that there was another way of being that was very attractive. image:Suzanne Valadon Photo.jpg, 180px,

.." in many ways, the opposite of Degas, being undisciplined and sexually promiscuous, but the two are united in a devotion to drawing." It's hard to imagine that he spent as much time as he did with her and spoke of her so warmly and wanted to see her so much if he didn't get something from her because Degas was somebody who was very curious and didn't

suffer fools gladly Suffer fools gladly is a well-known phrase in contemporary use, first coined by Saint Paul in his second letter to the Church at Corinth (chapter 11). The full verse of the original source of the idiom, 2 Corinthians 11:19 (KJV), reads "For ye s ...

."Wertenbaker, speaking to Anne MacElvoy on Nightwaves, Radio 3, 23 November 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Line 2009 plays Plays based on real people Plays set in the 19th century Cultural depictions of Edgar Degas British plays Plays set in France Montmartre Suzanne Valadon