Claudel, Paul-Louis-Charles-Marie (1868–1955), French poet, dramatist, and diplomat, whose early works were published anonymously for fear their ardent Catholicism should harm his diplomatic career. The first,
Tête d'or and
La Ville (pub. 1890 and 1893 respectively), were
poetic dramas intended for a form of total theatre far in advance of their time, and the first to be seen on stage were
L'Annonce faite à Marie (1912) and
L'Échange (1914), the former directed by
Lugné-Poë at the Théâtre de L'Œuvre, the latter by
Copeau at the
Vieux-Colombier. Lugné-Poë also directed
L'Ôtage (1914). All three were produced in London, as
The Tidings Brought to Mary and
The Exchange by the Pioneer Players in 1915 and 1916, and as
The Hostage in 1919, with Sybil
Thorndike. Many of Claudel's later plays were first seen outside France, among them
Le Pain dur (1926) in Oldenburg,
Le Père humilié (1928) in Dresden, both sequels to
L'Ôtage, and
Christophe Colomb (1930) in Berlin.
Le Repos du septième jour (1928) had its première in Warsaw,
Protée (1929) in Groningen,
La Ville (1931) in Brussels, and the dramatic oratorio
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (1938), with music by Honegger, in Basle. It was not until the Second World War that Jean-Louis
Barrault, working in close collaboration with Claudel, first brought his work to the notice of the general public in France with a production at the
Comédie-Française in 1943 of what is usually regarded as Claudel's masterpiece,
Le Soulier de satin;
ou,
Le Pire n'est pas toujours sûr. The incidental music was again by Honegger. The impression it made was reinforced by further productions by Barrault at the
Marigny—Partage
de midi (first seen in 1916) in 1948, with Edwige
Feuillère as Ysé,
Christophe Colomb in 1953, and
Le Soulier de satin again in 1965. All three productions were seen in London during visits from the Renaud-Barrault company, in 1951, 1956, and 1965 respectively. The company was also seen in New York in 1957 in
Le Soulier de satin, which, as
The Satin Slipper;
or,
The Worst is not the Surest, was published in 1931 in an English translation;
Le Pain dur and
Le Père humilié were translated in 1946.
La Ville, as
The City, and
Tête d'or, under its original title, have also been translated, and in 1972
Partage de midi, as
Break of Noon, was produced in England.
Jeanne d' Arc au bûcher was first performed in London in 1954. Claudel's last play,
L'Histoire de Tobie et de Sara, had its first production at the
Avignon Festival in 1947 under Jean
Vilar. Most of Claudel's plays were revised and rewritten several times and two or more versions exist of all his major works. All must be regarded as statements of his Christian faith, depicting the unending struggle between good and evil and the redemption of mankind through sacrifice.
