French Theatre 1918-1939 by Bettina L. Knapp, and: Modern French Drama, 1940-1980 by David Bradby (review)

Book Reviews BETTINA L. KNAPP. French Theatre 1918-1939. London: Macmillan 1985. Pp. x, 193. illustrated. £[5.00; £4.95 (PB). DAVID BRADDY. Modern French Drama, 1940-1980. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer~ sity Press 1984. pp. xiv. 299. illustrated. $49·50; $15·95(PB). These two books not only cover contingent material but also illustrate two rather different approaches to the problem ofpresenting an introductory overview of a complex subject. Bettina Knapp does so by emphasising a few texts and perfonnances, while David Bradby presents a systematic account of all the trends he has observed. Knapp's work, while interesting, is both incomplete and confusingly detailed. Bradby's is an excellent introduction for the student or the intelligent general reader, an aide-memoire and synthesis for the specialist, and a rich source-book for the anyone interested in theatre and related fields. Knapp's "Introduction" plunges the reader into the theatrical world of the immediate post-war period with a rather confusing list of plays and directors, before settling down to review briefly the activities of the great metteurs en scene: Copeau, Jouvet, Barrault, Pitoeff, Baty, and, in passing, Dullin. The body of the work is divided into three parts: "Dada, Surrealism and the Theatre of Cruelty," in which she analyses Tristan Tzara's The Gas Heart, Andre Breton and Philippe Soupault's [fYou Please, Roger Vitrac's Victor and Antonin Artaud's Theatre ofCruelty; "Farce, Comedy, Satire," in which she deals with Femand Crommelynck's The Magnificent Cuckold, and Michel de Ghelderodc's Escurial; and "Mythic Theatre," in which she deals with Jean Cocteau's Orpheus, Jean Giraudoux's 01ldine and The Madwoman o/Chaillot, Jean Anouilh's The Traveller Without Luggage, and Paul Claudel's Break of Noon. Her brief "Conclusion ," in fact a summary, would have made a useful introduction. There are notes to each chapter, a brief bibliography, an "Appendix" giving a selected listing of first perfonnances of works by the authors she studies in detail, an index, and fourteen plates. Book Reviews 575 This is a curiously old-fashioned work. The bibliography takes no account of recent sociological or structural linguistic criticism. This helps explain the absences from Knapp's choice of significant material: such works as the plays of Salacrou, with their emphasis on working-class problems, and Dullin's essential report attacking centralisation as the chief source of the lamentable state of French theatre in the late 305, and the efforts of Firmin G6mier and others to develop a popular or mass theatre in the inter-war period, and even the extremely lively boulevard theatre of Sacha Guitry and others. Theatre for her remains essentially intellectual. On the other hand, Knapp does make a number of valuable choices in dealing with Tzara, Crommelynck, and Ghelderode, and she pays as much attention to perfonnances, directors, designers, and actors as to texts and authors, which is in keeping with the policies of the Macmillan Modem Dramatists series. Within the individual sections, there is much useful material about the works chosen and about their perfonnance, usually concentrating on the first perfonnance. Here again there is some confusion, however, as resumes of texts mix with descriptions of individual performances. It is also often difficult to distinguish between ideas Knapp attributes to her subject-authors and ideas she espouses herself. Her principles of organization and choice are not made clear. The approach is narrative rather than critical; everything is reported with admiration, and there is little if any sense of the problematic, even when contradictory approaches are reported. The work is not well-edited and shows signs of haste. There are numerous typographical errors, repetitions, and passages that could have been made more clear or more grammatical. The apparent decision to use absolutely no French at all leads to some curious phrases such as "the Russian ballet" for "les Ballets russes". "blue trout" for "truite au bleu". In a general sense, the work lacks a critical approach in all its aspects, which is the more regrettable given Knapp's numerous other important works on individual dramatists and metteurs en scene. David Bradby's work is a model of thorough scholarship, of thoughtful analysis, and of lucid style. It sets...