Jean Anouilh: Seven Plays. Vol 3

by Jean Anouilh

Includes:
Medea
The Orchestra
Thieves' Carnival
Catch as Catch Can
Traveler Without Luggage
Episode in the Life of an Author
Cecile, or the School for Fathers

Genres: Plays, Drama, 20th Century, Collections

279 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Jean Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades, producing works that ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, though he is best remembered for his 1944 production of Sophocles’ Antigone, which, despite passing censorship, was widely interpreted as a critique of the Vichy regime. Born to a tailor father and a violinist mother, Anouilh absorbed the theatre from an early age, attending rehearsals and reading scripts, and began writing plays at twelve. The family moved to Paris, where he attended the Lycée Chaptal and briefly studied law at the Sorbonne before leaving to work in advertising. Early in his career he wrote comic scenes for cinema and worked as secretary to director Louis Jouvet, whose mentorship and the influence of playwright Jean Giraudoux inspired Anouilh to pursue theatre seriously. He debuted with collaborative and solo plays such as Humulus le muet, L’Hermine, and Mandarine, which, though not commercially successful, led to greater recognition with Le voyageur sans bagage in 1937. Anouilh developed distinct categories for his plays, including pièces noires, or tragedies like Antigone, exploring moral integrity against compromise; pièces roses, comedic works emphasizing fantasy and freedom; pièces brillantes, witty plays set in aristocratic environments; pièces grinçantes, darker, ironic comedies; and pièces costumées, historical dramas such as The Lark and Becket, highlighting protagonists pursuing moral paths amidst corruption. His later works, often called pièces secrètes, focused on dramatists and theatre professionals, emphasizing family and intimate relationships over conventional theatrical action. Politically, Anouilh remained largely apolitical, serving in the French Army and living under German occupation, his plays often interpreted as ambivalent reflections on resistance and pragmatism. Critically, he was recognized for blending lyrical language, precise dialogue, and structured plots, producing a prolific output for over fifty years, and winning accolades including the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, consideration for the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the inaugural Grand Prix du Théâtre de l'Académie française. His works continued to be performed internationally, balancing existential concerns, moral dilemmas, and humor, reflecting a nuanced perspective on human nature. By the end of his career, he had influenced French theatre deeply, navigating between realism, comedy, and tragedy, and remained a vital figure in twentieth-century drama until his death, leaving a legacy of plays that explore the tension between idealism and compromise, the demands of conscience, and the pursuit of integrity in a flawed world.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traveler Without Luggage **** – This is an amazing tale of memory, and how our past is a burden upon us, and how our families weigh heavily upon us. With memory comes regret, and the difficulty of trying to change yourself. A remarkable story that questions what makes us what we are and how we deal with the tyranny of the past.

The play starts almost as an absurd melodrama. The characters are lively and interesting, but it has the feeling of a farce. Things taken a sudden and abrupt turn when Gaston, who has suffered amnesia since he was 18, starts to hear stories about the horrible Jacques, who the family is convinced he is. Jacques tortured animals, slept with his brother’s wife, slept with the maid, threw his best friend down the steps crippling him and stole money from widows.

The principle flaw of the play is the tone. It’s a sardonic comedy, but it feels like it plays everything a bit too largely. To start, the whole idea of amnesia (in the arts) is a farcical conceit. Then add Jacques’ comically extreme cruelty and the absurd Duchess and the whole play takes a farcical turn. But it sets on top of a dark center and a dark idea.

It would be interesting to see if this could have been written as a straight drama – make the characters less comic types and tone down Jacques’ evil to just sleeping with his brother’s wife.

Though not a perfect play, it touches on a wonderful idea about who we are and who we want to be if we can let go of the past. (And it can let go of us.)


Catch as Catch Can (La Foire d'Empoigne – literally something like “grab it while you can”) *** – This is a short but interesting play about the brief reign of Napoleon after his return, and his final exile. The characters are comically drawn, and having Napoleon and King Louis XVIII played by the same actor a stroke of brilliance.

The play highlights the vagaries of power during this time period of France (and all time?). The comical intro where the guard isn’t sure whether to say “long live the king” or “long live the emperor” finely sets the tone.

The play reflects Anouilh’s skeptical and futile view of politics and political power. Little is achieved of lasting good. Politicians are all flawed morally, driven only by power. There are no gods or heroes deserving our worship. The play’s theme very well could be “a pox on them all.”

The play exemplifies this in the person of Joseph Fouche, who throughout his life supported the Revolution (and execution of King Louis XVI), Napoleon, King Louis XVIII, Napoleon again, and King Louis XVIII again. Whichever way the winds blew, Fouche set his sails.


Episode in the Life of an Author *** – This absurdist work features an impossibly farcical situation in which an author must deal with a marital spat, interviewers, a pregnant maid, a needy mother, an insistent friend, and much more. It is humorous and crazy. If it is truly absurdist, it doesn’t have any point. The play makes some vague statements about love. I find it interesting this is an episode about an author. Authors, you could say, create worlds with great control. What’s clear from this author is that he may control is art, but his life is completely out of control.