Overview
Among the great figures who pioneered the modern movement in world
literature, none showed himself more versatile than France's Jean
Cocteau. Poet, novelist, critic, artist, actor, film-maker, Cocteau was
also one of the greatest dramatists Europe has produced, with over a
dozen plays which are frequently revived, not only in France, but in
translation in many other countries. For this collection, fine
translations of four full-length plays, one short play, and the
“Speaker's Text" for the Cocteau-Stravinsky opera Oedipus Rex have been selected. The longer plays (The Infernal Machine, Orpheus, Bacchus, Knights of the Round Table)
are re-creations of classic myth and legend—poetic and highly original
interpretations of certain timeless themes which have inspired great
drama through the ages. The Eiffel Tower Wedding Party is, by
contrast, merely a "curtain-raiser," but remarkable as un jeu d'esprit,
revealing the wit and psychological penetration for which Cocteau is
famous.
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