René Morax (11 May 1873 – 3 January 1963) was a Swiss writer, playwright, stage director and theatre manager. He founded the

Théâtre du Jorat The Théâtre du Jorat, inaugurated 9 May 1908, is a theater hall located in the Vaud commune of Mézières, Vaud, Mézières, Switzerland, about 20 km from Lausanne, in the Jorat region. Description The Théâtre du Jorat was established ...

Morges Morges (; , Plurale tantum, plural, probably Ablative (Latin), ablative, else dative; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud and the seat of the Morges District, distri ...

in 1908, and promoted historical and rural theatre in French in Switzerland. He is known for the play '' Le Roi David'', with music by

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

Early life and career

Born in

, Canton de Vaud, on 11 May 1873, Morax studied literature in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. His first play, ''La Nuit des quatre-temps'' (1901) was given at the casino in Morges. This show gave a new direction to the culture in Switzerland. Indeed, following the example of what was done in France, this was the first expression of a true form of popular theater. In 1903, he premiered ''La Dîme'' at Mézières. This drama, based on a historical fact, well known in the region, tells the story of Pastor Martin who in 1790 was thrown into prison because he disputed the fact that the peasants must pay a direct tax on potatoes. ''La Dîme'' was a tremendous success and received international attention. The improvised stage for the performances was made permanent, and thus he created in 1908 the

, together with his brother

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

. It was soon nicknamed the "Sublime Barn" (La Grange sublime). A notable inspiration of the Jorat theater, René Morax wrote, staged and played rural and

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

s in French. In 1910, he premiered ''Aliéno'', written in collaboration with Gustave Doret, then in 1921 the

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

'' Le Roi David'' with a then unknown composer,

. The text, based on biblical narration, tells the story of

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

from his time as a shepherd boy to his death. Morax wrote the text for a 1928 cantata by

Conrad Beck Conrad Arthur Beck (16 June 1901 – 31 October 1989) was a Swiss composer. Life and works Beck's stay in Paris between 1924 and 1933 proved crucial to his artistic development, where he studied with Jacques Ibert and also made contact with Ar ...

, ''Der Tod des Oedipus''. René Morax was also the author of little comedies and farces (including ''Les Quatre Doigts et le Pouce'' in 1915, revived by the Théâtre des Faux-Nez in 1955), and of translations and adaptations which made him one of the most productive contemporary theater dramatists in Switzerland.

Theatre work

* 1902: ''Les quatre doigts et le pouce''. * 1903: ''La Dime'', music by Alexandre Dénéréaz * 1908: ''Henriette''. * 1910: ''Aliénor'', music by Gustave Doret * 1911: ''Orphée''. * 1912: ''La nuit des Quatre Temps''. * 1914: ''Tell''. * 1921: '' Le Roi David'', biblical drama, music by Arthur Honegger. * 1923: ''Davel''. * 1925: ''Judith''. * 1929 ''Roméo et Juliette'' (translation after Shakespeare). * 1931: ''La belle de Moudon''. * 1933: ''La terre et l’eau''. * 1937: ''La Servante d’Évolène'', music by Gustave Doret * 1944: ''Charles le téméraire''. * 1947 ''La lampe d’argile''.

Later life and death

Morax was awarded the ''Dramenpreis'' (drama prize) of the foundation Welti-Stiftung in 1942. A bust in his honour was inaugurated in Morges on 17 June 1962 in his presence. He died in the hospital of his hometown on 3 January 1963.

References

Sources

René Morax
on theaterwissenschaft.ch * Fonds : René Morax (1901–1968) ,70 mètres linéaires Cote: CH-000053-1 P Morax.
read online
* . * ''A contre temps'' huitante textes vaudois de 1980 à 1380, (pp. 160–165), * P.-Ol. Walzer ''Dictionnaire des littératures suisses'', (p. 409), * H.-Ch.Dahlem ''Sur les pas d'un lecteur heureux'', (p. 423), * R. Francillon ''Histoire de la littérature en Suisse romande'', vol. 2, (pp. 323–326), (pp. 334–336), * A. Nicollier, H.-Ch. Dahlem ''Dictionnaire des écrivains suisses d'expression française'',''Dictionnaire des écrivains suisses d'expression française''
/ref> vol. 2, (pp. 605–606), * Dessin photographie d'une coupe du théâtre de René Morax, à Mézières, photographie Arthur Buttel, Ferlens ''Patrie suisse'', (René Morax) 1908, No 379, (pp. 83–84) * Photo Thibault, Morges ''Patrie suisse'', (E. de B.), 1902, No 216, (pp. 5–8)
Pierre Meylan: ''René Morax et son temps.''

External links

*
''René Morax: Un théâtre pour le peuple.''
(PDF; 1,1 MB) Exposition au Musée Alexis Forel de Morges

on ''Archives de la RTS'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Morax, Rene Swiss dramatists and playwrights 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 1873 births People from Morges 1963 deaths