Composers and their stage works 


Jean Cocteau

(1889-1963)
French poet, novelist, artist, critic, cinematographer and dramatist: born 5th July, 1889 Maisons-Lafitte, Paris; died Milly, Paris 11th October, 1963

PLAYS

Unless otherwise noted, the plays were first performed in Paris.

  1. Le dieu bleu (The Blue God.) Ballet. Produced 1912. Music: Reynaldo Hahn.
  2. Parade. Realistic ballet, 1 act. Written 1916. Published 1919. Produced Théâtre du Chatelet, May, 1917. Music: Erik Satie.
  3. Le boeuf sur le toit, ou The Nothing-Doing Bar (The Ox on the Roof, or The Nothing-Doing Bar.) Farce, 1 act. Written 1920. Published 1920. Produced Comédie des Champs-Elysées, Feb. 21, 1920. Music: Darius Milhaud.
  4. Les mariés de la Tour Eiffel (The Wedding on the Eiffel Tower). Spectacle, 1 act. Written 1921. Published 1923. Produced Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, June 18, 1921. Music: Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Germaine Tailleferre, Darius Milhaud, and Francis Poulenc.
  5. Antigone. Tragedy, 1 act. Written 1922. Published 1928. Produced Théâtre de l'Atelier, Dec. 21, 1922. Based on Sophocles's play.
  6. Le train bleu (The Blue Train). Ballet. Written 1924. Produced Théâtre de Monte-Carlo, 1924.
  7. Romeo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet). Pretext for a production after Shakespeare; 5 acts, 23 tableaux. Written 1924. Published 1926. Produced Théâtre de la Cigale, June 2, 1924.
  8. Orphée (Orpheus). Tragedy; 1 act, 1 interval. Written 1925. Published 1927. Produced Théâtre des Arts, June 15, 1926.
  9. Le pauvre matelot (The Poor Sailor). Complaint, 3 acts. Written 1927. Published 1927.
  10. Oedipus-Rex. Opera-oratorio, 2 acts. Written 1927. Published 1928. Produced Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, 1927. Music: Igor Stravinsky.
  11. Oedipe-Roi (Oedipus the King). Play. Written 1928. Published 1928. Produced Nouveau Théâtre Antoine, June, 1937. Revised version: Produced Lyon Festival, 1962. Free adaptation of Sophocles's play.
  12. La voix humaine (The Human Voice). Monologue, 1 act. Written 1930. Published 1930. Produced Comédie-Française, Feb. 18, 1930.
  13. La machine infernale (The Infernal Machine). Play, 4 acts. Written 1932. Published 1934. Produced Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, Apr. 10, 1934.
  14. L'école des veuves (The School for Widows). Comedy, 1 act. Written 1936. Published 1936. Produced A.B.C. Cabaret, 1936.
  15. Les chevaliers de la table ronde (The Knights of the Round Table). Play, 3 acts. Written 1937. Published 1937. Produced Théâtre de l'Oeuvre, Oct. 14, 1937.
  16. Les parents terribles (Intimate Relations). Play, 3 acts. Written 1938. Published 1938. Produced Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, Nov. 14, 1938.
  17. Les monstres sacres (The Holy Terrors). Play, 3 acts. Written 1940. Published 1940. Produced Théâtre Michel, Feb. 17, 1940.
  18. Le bel indifferent (The Indifferent Lover). Monologue, 1 act. Written 1940. Published 1940. Produced Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, 1940.
  19. La machine d'écrire (The Typewriter). Play, 3 acts. Written 1941. Published 1941. Produced Théâtre Hébertot, Apr. 29, 1941.
  20. Renaud et Armide (Renaud and Armide). Verse tragedy, 3 acts. Written 1943. Published 1943. Produced Comédie-Française, Apr. 13, 1943.
  21. L'aigle d deux tetes (The Eagle Has Two Heads). Play, 3 acts. Written 1946. Published 1946. Produced Brussels, Théâtre des Galeries, Oct. 3, 1946; Paris, Théâtre Hébertot, Dec. 20, 1946.
  22. Le jeune homme et la mort (Death and the Young Man). Ballet, 1 act. Written 1946. Published 1957. Produced Paris, Opera, 1946.
  23. Un tramway nomme Désir (A Streetcar Named Desire). (Adaptation). Play, 3 acts. Written 1949. Published 1949. Produced Théâtre Édouard VII, Oct. 15, 1949. Based on Paule de Beaumont's translation of the play by Tennessee Williams.
  24. Le fantôme de Marseille (The Ghost of Marseille). Monologue, 1 act. Published 1949. Produced Compiegne, Mar. 19, 1952.
  25. L'epouse injustement soupçonnée (The Unjustly Suspected Wife). Play, 1 act. Produced Théâtre de la Gaité-Montparnasse, Mar. 4, 1950.
  26. Phèdre (Phaedra). Choreographic tragedy. Written 1950. Published 1950. Produced Paris, Opéra, 1950.
  27. Bacchus. Play, 3 acts. Written 1951. Published 1952. Produced Théâtre Marigny, Dec. 20, 1951.
  28. La dame à la licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn). Ballet, 1 act. Written 1953. Published 1957. Produced Munich, Theater am Gartnerplatz, May 9, 1953.
  29. L'impromptu de Palais-Royal (The Palais-Royal Impromptu). Divertissement, 6 scenes. Written 1961. Published 1962. Produced Japan, Compagnie de la Comédie-Française, 1962.

CRITICISM

French
  • C. Mauriac, Jean Cocteau, ou La vérité du mensonge, Paris, 1945;
  • J.-P. Millecam, L'étoile de Jean Cocteau, Monaco, 1952;
  • P. Dubourg, Dramaturgie de Jean Cocteau, Paris, 1954;
  • M. Meunier, Mediterranee, ou Les deux visages de Jean Cocteau, Paris, 1959;
  • J.-J. Kihm, Cocteau, Paris, 1960;
  • A. Fraigneau, Cocteau par lui-meme, Paris, 1966;
  • Jean Cocteau par lean Cocteau. Entretiens avec W. Fifield, Paris, 1973;
  • Cahiers Jean Cocteau 5. Cocteau et son Théâtre, Paris, 1975;
  • I. Filipowska, Elements tragiques dans le Théâtre de Jean Cocteau, Poznan, 1976.
English
  • M. Crosland, Jean Cocteau, London, 1955, New York, 1956;
  • N. Oxenhandler, Scandal & Parade: The Theatre of Jean Cocteau, New Brunswick, N.J., 1957;
  • W. Fowlie, Jean Cocteau: The History of a Poet's Age, Bloomington, Ind., 1966;
  • F. Brown, An Impersonation of Angels: A Biography of Jean Cocteau, New York and London, 1968;
  • E. Sprigge and J.-J. Kihm, Jean Cocteau: The Man and the Mirror, London and New York, 1968;
  • F. Steegmuller, Cocteau, Boston, 1970; W. Fifield, Jean Cocteau, New York, 1976.