The Reign of the Theatrical Director: French Theatre, 1887-1924 by Bettina L. Knapp (review)

Book Reviews ' BElTINA L. KNAPP. The Reign of the Theatrical Director: Fre1lch Theatre, 1887-1924. Troy, N.Y.: Whitston 1988. pp. 265, illustrated. $30.00 ]n her new study, The Reign o/the Theatrical Director: French Theatre, 188]-1924. Bettina L. Knapp has taken on the daunting task of examining one of the most significant and complex eras in the development of the modern stage director. And, in a 'thorough and thoughtful study, Knapp has, for the most part, succeeded in evoking all of the turbulence, creativity. and profound change of that extraordinary time. Knapp has divided her study into three parts, focusing on a major director and his theatre. Each part is subdivided into compact chapters in which Knapp offers biographical sketches of the directors, a survey of their productions, and, finally . chapters emphasizing either productions of works by foreign playwrights (which were produced in France for the first time) including I~sen. Strindberg, Chekhov, Wilde, and Kalidasa, among others, or especially significant contemporary French plays by Jarry, Brieux. Lavedan, Vildrac, Romains, etc. Part 1 examines the arrival of Naturalism in France at the Theatre Libre (1887- 1893) under the direction of Antione. Although much in this part, as in the other two parts, is already well-known, Knapp insightfully reaches beyond the traditional understanding of the historical facts. For example, she points out that Antione, a passionate naturalist, also leane~ toward poetic dramas, seemingly the antithesis of his style. And, in another twist, Knapp suggests that Lugne-Poe, who favored Symbolist productions at his Theatre de l'Oeuvre between 1893 and 1899. also admired and experimented in the Naturalist traditions. Most fascinating of all is Part m. covering the years between 1913 and 1924 when Copeau's Th~atre du Vieux-Colombier profoundly and permanently altered the future of the French stage through his return to such early acting traditions as commedia dell'arte in recreating the modem actor. Although these artists had their own singular styles and concepts. Book Reviews they are viewed by Knapp as intuitive forerunners who resisted the preconceptions and fixed rules and traditions of both theatrical art and social mores. Through her fluid prose, Knapp convincingly examines Antoine, Lugne-Poe, and Copeau as inspired explorers in search of the theatrical essence. The book is extremely well-illustrated, including production photographs, reproductions of posters and programs, and some scene designs. Knapp has also added a useful listing of all of the productions and first perfonnances at the Theatre Libre, The Theatre de l'Oeuvre, and the Theatre du Vieux-Colombier. Too little has been available in English about this seminal period in French theatre, making Knapp's The Reign o/the Theatrical Director: French Theatre, 188]-1924 an essential volume for anyone tantalized by the art of the stage director in the modem theatre. JAMES FISHER, WABASH COLLEGE ENOCH DRATER. Beyond Minimalism: BeckeN's Late Style in the Theatre. New York: Oxford University Press 1987. pp. xi, 209, illustrated. $24.95. In Beyond Minimalism Enoch Brater tells the story of Beckett's joking with Billie Whitelaw when he decided to insert the word "lacrosse" into Footfalls: II 'Oh, God,' said Beckett as he scribbled it in, 'tomes are going to be written about this' ." And sure enough Beckett criticism bas become more prodigious by the year. Among the plentiful tomes, Brater's book is a pleasure: the ideas are rich and the observations original. Contributing to this book's value and readability is Brater's prose which is remarkably free of critical argot; we are listening to a civilized voice, deeply serious, intelligent and witty. This is made all the more impressive by the thoroughness depth and breadth - of the scholarship. The book's first and seminal chapter, "Genre Under Stress," establishes Brater's angle of vision; he is not dealing with the politics of "genre jumping" '(the controversies over the translations of Beckett's fiction into performance), but rather with the far more difficult question of the very nature of Beckett's theatre, which, Brater maintains, from Not lon, "collapses our traditional way of thinking about drama as something separate and distinct from performance." Beckett. he tells us, is always concerned with the...