THE NIGHT OF THE MEN

one act tragedy with two characters


 

 

Theatre l’Atelier

 

First production :

November 26th 1949

in the theatre l'Atelier

then a revival in the
Studio des Champs -Elysées

 

Scenery and Staging :

André BARSACQ

 

 

The most beautiful tragedy of afterwar period.....

( Yvan Audouard )

 

Michel VITOLD
The action takes place in a big town in France, in the summer of 1944, during the
insurrectionary
days before the Liberation

 

This isn't a play about the war but a short intimate
tragedy during the war

 

 

 

Jacques DUMESNIL

André Barsacq’ s model

Scenery :

a man's apartment,

a room with loggia

above the ground-floor.

André BARSACQ

Vitold by the author

Summary :

Two men, the lover and the husband are arguing about the memory of the woman that both have loved ( called Laura ) and are trying to discover which one has been the favourite. They fight hand-to-hand mercilessly, comparing their sufferings, their anguish and their hatred. More and more present, Laura is gradually looming up out of the mist which she is wrapped up in,and she becomes alive, real, pitiful, endearing. In fact, she's the protagonist of the play.

Everlasting theme of the song of love and death.


Jordan, 42 years .......................Jacques DUMESNIL

Ricalens, 28 years ...............................Michel VITOLD

 

 

 


In the glare of the critics....

 

A stunning mastering, an outstanding proof of his gift as a man of the stage.

( BARJAVEL, Carrefour )

 

A great and heartrending play . A real playwright who knows his job quitewell.

( Nice-Matin )

 

A gripping first production.

( Max FAVALELLI )

 

This play in one act, which lasts about one hour and a half is evidence of his mighty dramatic talent.

( Claude BENEDICK, Agence France-Presse )

 

Your attention is constantly focused.The dialogue has virtues, is human, the souls are dissected. You are given a good lesson of psychological anatomy. You are kept in suspens, short of breath .

( Robert KEMP, le Monde )