PAR TIS
AN
REV lEW
istrator chosen to replace him is M . Breart de Boisanger, former
Am–
bassador to Prague, to whom has been assigned, as artistic advisor,
M. Michel Saint-Denis, director of the Centre Dramatique de rEst. And
nothing is more open to dispute than this double appointment. For
given the difficulties the
Comedie-Fran~aise
is now encountering, the
factions that have formed there, the authority lacking at its head, does
anyone suppose that a diplomat, even one who loves the theater, can
manage to encompass them all?
It
is a matter of directing a troupe, and
a difficult troupe at that, since, to a degree, it directs itself. Only a
man whose competence in theatrical matters is unquestionable---as was
the case with M. Maurice Bourdet---could succeed. M. de Boisanger,
whatever his good will, risks blunting his sword, or else, if he prefers
peace and quiet, he will resign at once.
Michel Saint-Denis presents a different case. He is one of Jacques
Copeau's former collaborators; before the war, he was a director of the
London Old Vic, with Laurence Olivier; and every Frenchman learned
to recognize his voice when he spoke on Radio Free France under the
name of Jacques Duchene. When Pierre Bourdan set up the provincial
dramatic centers, Michel Saint-Denis was appointed director of the
Centre Dramatique de l'Est, in Strasbourg. But while the young com–
panies of the Grenier de Toulouse or the Comedie de Saint-Etienne--–
the latter under the direction of Jean Daste-figured among the best
companies in France, it must be said that ·the Centre Dramatique de
l'Est has never shone very brilliantly. I recall one production of
Romeo
and Juliet
by this troupe which was a disaster: the wild-eyed Romeo
thought he was Hamlet; the Friar Laurence became a figure of farce
without any such intention on the part of his interpreter; the produc–
tion was saved only by a Juliet who did not draw smiles when her nurse
said: "Come Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen . . .," and who
had, besides, a lovely voice and a charming figure. But all the rest ...
The essential problem of the
Comedie-Fran~aise,
as for any other
theater, is that of obtaining actors. It cannot limit itself to offering a
yearly contract- which is not always accepted-to the boy and girl who
win first prizes in comedy and tragedy in the conservatory examinations.
It
must also engage other actors, better prepared and more experienced,
than these young people. That is, it must know the Paris theater
milieu
through and through . To perform this function, which cannot be asked
of an ambassador, after all, the government has selected a man of the
theater who has just spent fifteen years in the provinces and who, be–
fore that, had been abroad fifteen more.
If
the
Comedie-Fran~ais
is a conservatory of traditions, it must also
concern itself with that other aspect of the theater's life which
is dis-
