NICOLA CHIAROMONTE
sanctity rests in the fact that he shows contemporary man where
the ethical problem begins and what it is made up of. In con–
sequence, Sartre invites us to "put Genet
to
good use," just as
Pascal invited the Christian to make good use of his illnesses.
In Genet's thea"ter, that is, in
Les Bonnes
and
Haute Surveil–
lance,
Sartre saw the continuation, and the exacerbation of the
play-acting which Genet acts out in his novels. He regarded the
theatrical situations and characters as disguises for Genet him–
self, in which the author pushes the unreality of his situation to
the point of schizophrenia, without being able to escape from it.
Yet one can ask whether Sartre would say the same thing about
Le Balcon
and
L es Negres.
Indeed, it seems that in the latter play
the situation has changed and that, without denying himself, by
the simple fact of making theater, that is, of presenting himself
authentically in a disguise in relation to the others, Genet issues
miraculously out of his nightmare, giving objective, no longer
schizophrenic, form to the situation that fascinates him. In short,
through the theater Genet seems to have succeeded in making good
use of Genet.
L es Negres
begins with the author's warning: "This play,
written by a white man, is intended for a white audience, but if it is
ever performed before a black audience, which is quite improbable,
then a white person, male or female, should be invited to each
performance. The producer of the play should solemnly welcome
this white, dress him in a ceremonial costume and lead him to
his seat, preferably in the center of the first row of the orchestra.
A spotlight should be focused upon this symbolic white through–
out the play. And what if no white person accepts the invitation?
Then it would be necessary to distribute white masks to the black
spectators as they enter the theater."
This is the "prologue" and it explains clearly the intention
of this
cl~wnerie:
to place an audience of whites in the position
of feeling itself judged, derided, attacked by a company of blacks.
The whites are the spectators and the blacks are the actors. In
consequence, the judgment, the derision, the aggression,
are
fictitious, part of a game, a diversion, a vacation from reality,
and are to be taken as such ; exactly as in the Greek festival of the
