Achard, Marcel

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

Achard, Marcel (1899–1974), French dramatist, whose first play Voulez-vous jouer avec moâ (1923) was accepted and staged in Paris by Dullin, for whom a year later Achard wrote an excellent adaptation of Jonson's Epicoene as La Femme silencieuse. Other works such as Jean de la lune (1929) and Le Corsaire (1938) followed, all directed by Jouvet, attracting attention by their skilful mingling of the fragility and irony of human love, expressed through burlesque which turned unexpectedly to pathos. After the Second World War Achard changed his approach somewhat, becoming more easily accessible and seeking less to ‘make an effect’, as he had done with his introduction of pantomime creatures into his earlier plays. These later plays proved popular in New York, the first to be seen there being an adaptation of Auprès de ma blonde as I Know My Love (1949) by S. N. Behrman.

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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Achard, Marcel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Achard, Marcel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-AchardMarcel.html

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Achard, Marcel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-AchardMarcel.html

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