''Le Sabre de mon père'' () is a
surrealist
Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
play written by
Roger Vitrac
Roger Vitrac (; 17 November 1899 – 22 January 1952) was a French surrealist playwright and poet.
Early life
Roger Vitrac was born in Pinsac on 17 November 1899, before his family moved to Paris in 1910.:527 As a young man, he was influenced b ...
which premiered at
Théâtre de Paris
The Théâtre de Paris () is a theatre located at 15, rue Blanche in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, 9th arrondissement of Paris. It includes a second smaller venue, the Petit Théâtre de Paris.
History
The first theatre on the site was built b ...
in 1951.
Original cast
* Mise-en-scène:
Pierre Dux
* Settings:
Félix Labisse
* Costumes:
Rosine Delamare
* Roles and interpreters:
** Françoise Dujardin:
Sophie Desmarets
Sophie Desmarets (; 1922–2012) was a French film actress.Davis p.145
Selected filmography
* ''Battement de coeur'' (1940) - (uncredited)
* ''Premier rendez-vous'' (1941) - Henriette Lefranc
* ''The Man Who Played with Fire'' (1942) - Gabrielle ...
** Édouard Dujardin:
Pierre Dux
** Pierre Martignac: Max Palenc
** Adélaïde Poinsot:
Claire Gérard
Claire Gérard (1889–1971) was a Belgian stage and film actress. She appeared regularly in French cinema in supporting roles.
Selected filmography
* '' The Marriage of Mademoiselle Beulemans'' (1932)
* '' Jeanne'' (1934)
* '' If I Were Boss'' ...
** Boussu:
Noël Roquevert
Noël Roquevert (born Noël Louis Raymond Bénévent; 18 December 1892 – 6 November 1973) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1932 and 1972. Roquevert was born in Doué-la-Fontaine and was married ...
** Albert Feuillade:
Jean Lagache
** Docteur Laborderie:
Charles Dechamps
Charles Dechamps (13 September 1882 – 25 September 1959) was a French stage and film actor. He married the comedian Fernande Albany on 19 November 1925. He died in 1959, and was buried at cimetière du Père-Lachaise.
Filmography
* 1909: ...
** Nini: Anne Vitrac
** Clémence: Luce Clament
** Simon:
Serge Lecointe Serge may refer to:
*Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric
*Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme
*Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name)
*Serge (post), a hitchi ...
** Flore Médard:
Marcelle Arnold
** Diane Condé: Geneviève Berney
** Popaul:
Jean-Jacques Duverger
** Isabelle Laborderie: Janine Liezer
** Pierril:
René Génin
René Génin (25 January 1890 – 24 October 1967) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1931 and 1965.
Selected filmography
* ''Vertigo'' (1935)
* '' The Mutiny of the Elsinore'' (1936)
* '' The Bri ...
Critics
Initially the play was unsuccessful and disliked by critics, even by those who were at the time supporting surrealist arts of this kind. Some of these critics explained that the title was not as explicit as they had wished.
The play was defended by
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; ; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ...
, who proclaimed: "We are some in the art who have been working since the last war to strangle the anecdote, to kill the idea of a good play that ruled the French theater
..to the point of reducing it to the status of a mummy.
..The play is good, no? Well, no. Neither Colombe nor Le Sabre is good plays. But if the actors play "like gods", it's because they have characters otherwise, they don't play well.
..And then, let architecture be left to the construction specialists. The theater is a game of the mind and mind may well make honey in foraging in detail, like a bee." Anouilh echoes Robert Kemp who stated in his article: "''That Sabre, good in details and which, taken line by line, do not lack of taste but is overall, after all, insignificant''..."
External links
* Henri Béhar
"Vitrac, théâtre ouvert sur le rêve"
French plays
1951 plays
{{1950s-play-stub