Deburau

Deburau is a 1918 French play by Sacha Guitry that also played on Broadway in a translation by Harley Granville-Barker at the Belasco Theatre in 1920–21[1] and at the Ambassadors Theatre in London in 1921.

Deburau
Elsie Mackay in 1920 Broadway production
Written bySacha Guitry
Date premieredFebruary 9, 1918 Théâtre du Vaudeville, Paris
December 23, 1920 Belasco Theatre, New York
November 11, 1921 Ambassadors Theatre, London
Original languageFrench

Background

The play debuted on February 9, 1918, at the Théâtre du Vaudeville. Burns Mantle writes in The Best Plays of 1920-21 that Guitry had to withdraw the play due to World War I shells starting to drop within blocks of the theatre, but that the play had already been such a success that there was "lively bidding" for the American rights to a translated version that Harley Granville-Barker had made for Charles B. Cochran.[1]

In America, after an out-of-town warmup in Washington,[2][3] the play debuted at the Belasco Theatre on December 23, 1920. Mantle writes that it "immediately took its place, not only as one of the fine plays of this particular season, but as one of the most impressively and beautifully staged plays the American stage has ever known."[1] Belasco, however, decided not to take the play on the road due to the cost of doing so, also reporting that the entire production in New York was also going to be a loss. The New York production required actors and staff totaling 126 (plus two children) to be staged.[4]

In London, Granville-Barker's translation debuted at the Ambassadors Theatre on November 3, 1921, and played through November 26 (28 perf.) It was the stage debut for Ivor Novello. Robert Loraine played Deburau.[5]

Revivals and adaptations

The 1924 silent film The Lover of Camille is an adaptation of the play.[6] The 1951 French film of the same name is also based on the play, with Sacha Guitry both directing and reprising his lead role.[7]

It has been revived a number of times in France, including in 1950 and 1980.[8]

1920 Broadway cast

References
  1. Mantle, Burns. The Best Plays of 1920-21 and the Year Book of the Drama in America, pp. 19-61 (1921)
  2. (14 December 1920). Hunger Unappeased Is Effect of New Comedy, Washington Times
  3. (16 December 1920). Belasco Purpose To Honor Capital, Evening Star
  4. (29 May 1921). Expensive Deburau, The New York Times
  5. Wearing, J.P. The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, p. 123 (2d ed. 2014)
  6. (30 November 1924). Rialto - "The Lover of Camille", Evening Star (Washington, D.C.)
  7. Imaginaires urbains, p. 74 (2011) (in French)
  8. Deburau,Les Archives Du Spectacle, Retrieved 23 December 2021
  9. (24 December 1920). The Play, The New York Times
  10. (24 December 1920). Great Performance By Lionel Atwill In "Deburau", New York Tribune
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