The Infernal Machine: & Other Plays

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.

Author: Jean Cocteau
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Published: 01/17/1964
Pages: 412
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 7.91h x 5.18w x 1.11d
ISBN13: 9780811200226
ISBN10: 0811200221
BISAC Categories:
- Drama | European | French