Staging France between the World Wars

Staging France between the World Wars aims to establish the nature and significance of the modernist transformation of French theater between the World Wars, and to elucidate the relationship between aesthetics and the cultural, economic, and political context of the period. Over the course of the 1920s and 30s, as the modernist directors elaborated a theatrical tradition redefined along new lines: more abstract, more fluid, and more open to interpretation, their work was often contested, especially when they addressed the classics of the French theatrical repertory. This study consists largely of the analysis of productions of classic plays staged during the interwar years, and focuses on the contributions of Jacques Copeau and the Cartel because of their prominence in the modernist movement and their outspoken promotion of the role of the theatrical director in general. Copeau and the Cartel began on the margins of theatrical activity, but over the course of the interwar period, their movement gained mainstream acceptance and official status within the theater world. Tracing their trajectory from fringe to center, from underdogs to elder statesmen, this study illuminates both the evolution of the modernist aesthetic and the rise of the metteur-en-scène, whose influence would reshape the French theatrical canon.

Clearly conveying the basics of French theater’s important interwar era, McCready (French, Univ. of Alabama; codirector, Center for the Study of War and Memory) offers insights that are original and impressive. She assesses the influence of Jacques Copeau and the so-called cartel directors (Charles Dullin, Louis Jouvet, Baston Baty, Georges Pitoëff) in terms of their modernist staging innovations applied to the “classics” of the drama (a canon they actually expanded) in counterpoint to the Comédie-Française’s productions as bastion of tradition. McCready’s marshaling of archival materials combined with her own thoughtful analysis shows how these independent directors of the 1920s–30s redefined “tradition”—ignoring stale conventions, returning to populist roots—in a process that also led audiences to embrace the modernist aesthetic. In chapters on productions of Molière’s plays, on the Racine/Shakespeare dichotomy, and on Alfred de Musset’s elevation to preeminence among the Romantics, McCready anchors her premise that classic plays served as vehicles for validating the director’s authority to interpret texts through performance elements beyond the verbal.... McCready authoritatively blends theater history, politics, and dramatic literature. Lucidly written and cogently argued, the book includes extensive notes as well as the standard apparatus. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals., For those wishing to make sense of a largely ignored period of French theatre, this study of the rise of the actor/director...is an absolute must.... [McCready's] survey of landmark productions is meticulously researched, and insights from their performance history (costumes, set design, rehearsal scripts,etc.) further strengthen the perceptive analysis of a wide range of reviews.... [T]he writing is concise, taut, and superbly signposted.... [T]he author’s own translation of French quotations is excellent, frequently exploring the original nuances of the words to reinforce her argument. A delightfully accessible read., Susan McCready approaches this subject in a novel and effective way. . . . McCready’s insightful and highly readable study made me think about how classic repertory has continued—to the present—to be a site of contestation and creation in French theater; and how questions of tradition and national cultural identity dominate our own times, in theater and beyond., This is first-rate scholarship on the history of theater and performance that brings us to a new understanding of the French stage—and its radical transformation—during the interwar years (1918-1940). Susan McCready argues convincingly that the period’s modernist directors revolutionized theatrical production, transformed the metteur-en-scène into an artiste in his own right, and re-envisioned the French dramatic canon. Perhaps most compellingly, she ties these aesthetic developments to the far-reaching cultural ferment of the interbellum, to the period’s complicated political context, and to its deep and anxiety-ridden engagement with broader questions of French identity. Carefully researched and clearly written, Staging France has much to offer, both to theater specialists and to a more general readership in French Studies.

Susan McCready is professor of French and codirector of the Center for the Study of War and Memory at the University of South Alabama.