Romains, Jules [ Louis-Henri-Jean Farigoule] (1885–1972), French poet, novelist, and dramatist. His first play,
L'Armée dans la ville, was produced by
Antoine in 1911, but it was not until after the First World War that he began his close association with the theatre through his friendship with
Cocteau and
Copeau. He worked for a time at the
Vieux-Colombier, where his
Cromedeyre-le-Vieil, a mythic portrayal of a mode of communal existence and experience, was produced in 1920. Louis
Jouvet produced and played in the three farces which followed—
M. Le Trouhadec saisi par la débauche (1922),
Knock;
ou,
le Triomphe de la médecine (1923), and
Le Mariage de M. Le Trouhadec (1925).
Knock, in which Jouvet played the quack doctor adept at manipulating human credulity, had an immense success and was frequently revived. It was seen with equal success in London (1926) and New York (1928). Romains's later plays included
Jean le Maufranc (1926), initially unsuccessful but, rewritten as
Musse;
ou,
L'Ecole de l'hypocrisie (1930), offering
Dullin a fine part;
Le Dictateur (also 1926), which had its greatest success outside France; an excellent adaptation of
Jonson's Volpone (1928); and
Donogoo (1931), a stage version of a film scenario of 1920 in which the Le Trouhadec saga had its beginnings. Romains then concentrated on his 27-volume panoramic novel
Les Hommes de bonne volonté.
Volpone was successfully revived by
Barrault at the
Marigny in 1955, with himself as Mosca.
