Deburau is a 1918 French play by Sacha Guitry that also played on Broadway in a translation by Harley Granville-Barker at the Belasco Theatre in 1920–21 and at the Ambassadors Theatre in London in 1921.
15-700: The play debuted on February 9, 1918, at the Théâtre du Vaudeville . Burns Mantle writes in The Best Plays of 1920-21 that Guitry had to withdraw the play due to World War I shells starting to drop within blocks of the theatre, but that the play had already been such a success that there was "lively bidding" for the American rights to a translated version that Harley Granville-Barker had made for Charles B. Cochran . In America, after an out-of-town warmup in Washington ,
30-451: A form of introversion in which libido (psychic energy) flows inward. The text's conspicuous word repetitions might strike an audience as unnecessary or an oversight on the part of the author. Maeterlinck, however, employed this technique in several of his plays to enhance the atmosphere of the supernatural , horror, fear, gloom, and awe. Some observers have likened this characteristic to what Edgar Allan Poe aimed for with his liberal use of
45-574: Is dedicated to Edmond Picard . Paul Fort 's Théâtre d'Art first produced the play in Paris on 20 May 1891 , at the Théâtre du Vaudeville, as part of a program of poetry readings and short plays to benefit Paul Verlaine and Paul Gauguin . Maeterlinck recalled in his memoirs that if the program went on too long, then the play was to be removed. Fortunately, it went on, and Intruder received much critical praise. Equally striking to both critics and audience
60-653: Is today, under the name the Paramount Opéra then (from 31 October 2007) the Gaumont Opéra . It has seven auditoria and is served by Opéra on the Paris Metro . 48°52′16.5″N 2°20′1″E / 48.871250°N 2.33361°E / 48.871250; 2.33361 Intruder (play) Intruder ( French : L'Intruse ) is a one-act play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck , which appeared first in publication in 1890. Journalistic appreciations of
75-461: The Independent Theatre movement. On 20–21 May 1891, Paul Fort 's Théâtre d'Art presented a benefit for Paul Verlaine and Paul Gauguin , consisting of a program of poetry readings and five short plays, including, most notably, the premiere of Maurice Maeterlinck 's Symbolist landmark work Intruder . In 1927, this building was acquired by Paramount and transformed into the cinema it
90-411: The arrival of the priest and the sister. The ailing mother, who is in the next room, has given birth to a child, who sleeps in another adjoining room. After hearing many noises, the grandfather hears two sets of footsteps upon the staircase. The maid appears, saying the door was open, so she shut it. The grandfather claims he heard someone enter the room behind the maid, but the others in the room say she
105-459: The form of Death. The infinite presence of death, gloomy, hypocritically active, fills all the interstices of the poem. To the problem of its existence no reply is made except by the riddle of its annihilation." Maeterlinck used several unconventional literary devices in Intruder . For example, he invested special valence in buildings to dramatize patterns of behavior, such as the house representing
120-528: The play debuted at the Belasco Theatre on December 23, 1920. Mantle writes that it "immediately took its place, not only as one of the fine plays of this particular season, but as one of the most impressively and beautifully staged plays the American stage has ever known." Belasco, however, decided not to take the play on the road due to the cost of doing so, also reporting that the entire production in New York
135-611: The play. The 1951 French film of the same name is also based on the play, with Sacha Guitry both directing and reprising his lead role. It has been revived a number of times in France, including in 1950 and 1980. Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré , mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles . After
150-561: The text throughout that year prompted Parisian independent theatre producers to get the performance rights. From its stage debut the following spring, it became identified as a landmark work in the Symbolism movement of the late-nineteenth century. Intruder concerns man's conflict with preternatural forces, against which he is powerless. The same theme was prevalent in Maeterlinck's earlier play, Princess Maleine , published 1889. The play
165-823: The theatre on the rue de Chartres burned down in 1838, the Vaudeville temporarily based itself on boulevard de Bonne-Nouvelle before in 1841 setting up in the Salle de la Bourse on the Place de la Bourse in the 2e arrondissement . This building was demolished in 1869. Eugène Labiche and Henri Meilhac put on several of their works there, and it also hosted Jules Verne 's play Onze jours de siège (1861). Other writers whose works were put on there were Edmond Gondinet , Alexandre Bisson , Théophile Marion Dumersan , Jean-François Bayard , Narcisse Fournier and Gaston Arman de Caillavet . In 1852, La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils
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#1732855131668180-480: Was alone. The clock strikes midnight, the baby commences screaming, and the Sister of Mercy appears, announcing the death of the mother. It became clear that the intruder being referred to by the old man was death itself. Later, Maeterlinck would explain the dominance of this element (which was recurring in his other plays) so that it was almost treated as a character in the narrative: "This Unknown takes on, most frequently,
195-476: Was also going to be a loss. The New York production required actors and staff totaling 126 (plus two children) to be staged. In London, Granville-Barker's translation debuted at the Ambassadors Theatre on November 3, 1921, and played through November 26 (28 perf.) It was the stage debut for Ivor Novello . Robert Loraine played Deburau. The 1924 silent film The Lover of Camille is an adaptation of
210-413: Was its novel staging, featuring the soon-to-be signature Symbolist acting style—conveying a religious reverie, with its hieratic poses and gestures, matched with solemn, psalmodized line readings—forged by the new acting talents Aurélien Lugné-Poe and Georgette Camée. Set in the living room of a home, the grandfather, who is blind, waits with the father, the uncle, and the three daughters. They wait for
225-491: Was put on here. For the first time in the era, there were over 100 consecutive performances. Verdi was in the audience at this theatre and wrote La Traviata (1853) based on the play. From 1866 to 1868, a new Théâtre du Vaudeville was built on boulevard des Capucines , at the corner of Rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin , in the 9e arrondissement . Although the Vaudeville continued as a commercial boulevard playhouse, it occasionally leased its stage to new experimentalist plays of
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