CyranA
Adapted from Edmond Rostand
By Doug Zschiegner
Scapin the Scammer
By Molière
Adapted into English Verse by Brian Vinero
Oh what a tragic fate for one who is in love. What sadder news could ring in his ears?
In Review: Seven Plays of Koffi Kwahulé: In and Out of Africa
Review by Neil Blackadder
University of Michigan Press’ African Perspectives series has provided the opportunity for a kind of publication that all readers of The Mercurian wish would happen far more frequently: a collection of translations of plays by an important contemporary playwright.
The Invasion
By Arthur Adamov
Translated by David Carter
Pierre: (He gets up and goes towards Agnès) I’ve found it!
Agnès: What? The word you were looking for?
Pierre: Better, the whole sentence!
Molière at Versailles
Translated and adapted from the plays of Molière
By Mechele Leon
In adapting Impromptu, a play about Molière’s company in rehearsal, I invented a reimagined premise in which Molière’s company prepares to offer a command performance of The Imaginary Invalid at the Versailles Palace for Louis XIV.
The Learned Ladies
By Molière
Translated by Jonathan Marks
It’s fine if they’re enlightened, in every way, but I don’t like this shocking passion to learn just to look learned.
In Review: The Beau’s Lesson by Pierre de Marivaux
Reviewed by Daniel Smith
With its fortuitous turns of phrase, elegance of style, and clarity of character voices, Tom Weber’s translation is a welcome addition to the canon of Marivaux plays in English.
In Review: Contemporary French Plays
Reviewed by Amelia Pareneau
On the whole, Campbell’s Contemporary French Plays spans the gamut of French drama, from the cinematic to the living room drama, the political to the romantic.
The Last Scene
By Alain Foix
Translated by Amelia Parenteau
The Last Scene offers an almost dreamy depiction of violent realities, and a fascinating window into our past, through a lens of French interpretation.
Phaedra
By Racine
Translated by Catherine Esther Styles
Although Racine’s Phèdre is acknowledged as one of the supreme achievements of European literature, it is not often performed in English.
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