Bernard-Marie Koltès (; ; 9 April 1948 – 15 April 1989) was a French playwright and theatre director best known for his plays ''La Nuit juste avant les Forêts'' (''The Night Just Before the Forests'', 1976), ''Sallinger'' (1977) and ''Dans la Solitude des Champs de Coton'' (''In the Solitude of Cotton Fields'', 1986). A close friend and collaborator with the avant-garde director

Patrice Chéreau Patrice Chéreau (; ; 2 November 1944 – 7 October 2013) was a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer. In France he is best known for his work for the theatre, internationally for his films '' La Reine Margot'' and ''I ...

, the two created groundbreaking work together at both the

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

in New York City and the Théâtre des Amandiers in

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

. At the time of his death, Koltès was considered to be one of the most important young voices in French theatre, and heir apparent to the legacy left by post-war playwrights such as

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

and

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

. His plays have since become staples on the modern repertory around the world, having been translated into more than 36 languages.

Life and work

Born in 1948 to a middle-class family in

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, his life was violent and anchored in revolt. He tried his hand at writing at a very young age but later renounced it, and didn't take to the stage until the age of twenty after seeing the film actress María Casares starring in a production of ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'' (''Médée'') directed by Jorge Lavelli. Soon after, in 1969, he was inspired and wrote his first play, ''Les Amertumes'' (''Bitternesses''), a dramatization of Maksim Gorky's 1914 memoir, ''My Childhood''. The play premiered in 1970 at the St. Nicholas Church in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. By chance Hubert Gignoux, the director of the National Theater of Strasbourg, attended the show on opening night and was instantly enamored of Koltès's work. Convinced that the twenty-one-year old fledgling playwright was a genius, Gignoux invited him to attend the theatre school at TNS in 1971.

Work

Within the year, Koltès directed and acted in productions at the Théâtre du Quai in Strasbourg,a company he founded. He directed some of his own work there, including ''La Marche'' (''The Walk''), an adaptation of the biblical

Song of Solomon The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, it is erotic poe ...

, and ''Procès ivre'' (''Drunken Trial''), based on

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

's ''Crime and Punishment''. Some of Koltès's early works such as ''L'Héritage'' (''The Inheritance'') and the unpublished ''Des Voix sourdes'' (''Deaf Voices'') were even broadcast on national French radio in 1972 and 1973. His first widely celebrated piece, the long

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

, '' The Night Just Before The Forests'', was staged in 1977 at the

Avignon Festival The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival (), is an annual arts festival held in the French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by Jean ...

, and subsequent productions were put on in collaboration with director

. Koltès's work, based in real-life problems, expresses the tragedy of being alone and of death. His writing style accents the dramatic tension and the lyricism of his plays. Koltes also translated into French

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

''. Genet and the absurdists influenced Koltès's writing. Like other absurdist writers, he felt exiled – in his case, as a homosexual in a heterosexual world. In Africa, he saw native cultures being wiped out by European influences. This theme brought forth '' Black Battles with Dogs''. After a visit to America he wrote '' Quay ouest'' (1985), about a brother and sister in a foreign culture. The psychopathic killer Roberto Succo provided the inspiration for his final play '' Roberto Zucco''. It was first performed posthumously in Berlin in 1990, directed by Peter Stein. It has since been performed across Europe and the United States.

Death

Koltès died in a Paris hospital in 1989 due to complications of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

Works

*'' Bitterness'' (''Les Amertumes'') (1970) *'' La Marche'' (1970) *''

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

'' (''L'Héritage'') (1972) *'' Récits morts'' (1973) *'' Sallinger'' (1977) *'' The Night Just Before the Forests'' (''La Nuit juste avant les forêts'') (1977) *'' Black Battles with Dogs'' (''Combat de nègre et de chiens'') (1979) *'' Quay West'' (''Quai Ouest'') (1985) *'' In the Solitude of Cotton Fields'' (''Dans la solitude des champs de coton'') (1985) *'' Tabataba'' (1986) *'' Return to the Desert'' (''Retour au désert'') (1988) *'' Roberto Zucco'' (1988), based on the life of the criminal Roberto Succo

References

External links

*
BernardMarieKoltes.com
*
Critical bibliography on Koltès' works (Auteurs.contemporain.info)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koltes, Bernard-Marie AIDS-related deaths in France Burials at Montmartre Cemetery 1948 births 1989 deaths 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights French male dramatists and playwrights French LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights French gay writers 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French LGBTQ people