Jean Racine, baptized Jean-Baptiste Racine, was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, and an important literary figure in the Western tradition. Racine was primarily a tragedian, producing such "examples of neoclassical perfection" as Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie. He did write one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and a muted tragedy, Esther for the young.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1670.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1669.
Edmé Boursault was a French dramatist and miscellaneous writer, born at Mussy l'Evéque, now Mussy-sur-Seine (Aube).
Berenice is a five-act tragedy by the French 17th-century playwright Jean Racine. Berenice was not played often between the 17th and the 20th centuries. Today it is one of Racine's more popular plays, after Phèdre, Andromaque and Britannicus.
Tite et Bérénice is a heroic comedy by the 17th-century French playwright Pierre Corneille.
Károly Kisfaludy was a Hungarian dramatist and artist, brother of Sándor Kisfaludy. He was the founder of the national drama.
Andromaque is a tragedy in five acts by the French playwright Jean Racine written in alexandrine verse. It was first performed on 17 November 1667 before the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre in the private chambers of the Queen, Marie Thérèse, by the royal company of actors, called "les Grands Comédiens", with Thérèse Du Parc in the title role. The company gave the first public performance two days later in the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. Andromaque, the third of Racine's plays, written at the age of 27, established its author's reputation as one of the great playwrights in France.
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme is a five-act comédie-ballet — a play intermingled with music, dance and singing — written by Molière, first presented on 14 October 1670 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. Subsequent public performances were given at the theatre of the Palais-Royal beginning on 23 November 1670. The music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, the choreography was by Pierre Beauchamp, the sets were by Carlo Vigarani and the costumes were done by the chevalier d’Arvieux.
Britannicus is a five-act tragic play by the French dramatist Jean Racine. It was first performed on 13 December 1669 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris.
Scapin the Schemer is a three-act comedy of intrigue by the French playwright Molière. The title character Scapin is similar to the archetypical Scapino character. The play was first staged on 24 May 1671 in the theatre of the Palais-Royal in Paris.
Alexandre le Grand is a tragedy in 5 acts and verse by Jean Racine. It was first produced on 4 December 1665 at the Palais Royal Theater in Paris. The subject of the play is the love of Alexander the Great and the Indian princess Cleofile complicated by intrigues between her brother Taxilus and his ally Porus. The play is largely based on a surviving work by the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus.
La Thébaïde is a tragedy in five acts in verse by Jean Racine first presented, without much success, on June 20, 1664 at the Palais-Royal in Paris. The twins, along with their sister Antigone, were children borne of the incestuous marriage of the Theban king Oedipus and his mother Jocasta. The play depicts the struggle and death of the young son of Oedipus, as well as that of Antigone. This subject had already occupied many authors before Racine. Thus, the young playwright, still fairly inexperienced, drew particularly from the Antigone of Sophocles, the Phoenician Women of Euripides, but especially the Antigone of Jean Rotrou and the tragedies of Pierre Corneille.
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac is a three-act comédie-ballet—a ballet interrupted by spoken dialogue—by Molière, first presented on 6 October 1669 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. Subsequent public performances were given at the theatre of the Palais-Royal beginning on 18 November 1669. The music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, the choreography was by Pierre Beauchamp, the sets were by Carlo Vigarani, and the costumes were created by the chevalier d’Arvieux.
La Veuve, ou Le traître trahi is a French verse comedy in five acts by Pierre Corneille, which takes place in Paris. The play was probably first performed early in 1632 by the troupe of Charles Le Noir and Montdory at the Sphère, a rather seedy nightclub in Paris. It was first published in 1634.
The Théâtre de l'Athénée is a theatre at 7 rue Boudreau, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Renovated in 1996 and classified a historical monument, the Athénée inherits an artistic tradition marked by the figure of Louis Jouvet who directed the theatre from 1934 to 1951. During the period when he was director, it became known as the Athenée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet.
Abbas Nalbandian was an Iranian playwright who wrote several absurdist plays in the 1960s and 1970s. His plays had very long and strange names. For example, his first play was “A deep, big and new research about fossils of 25th genealogy period, or 20th, or any other period, there is no difference”.
Nalbandian was under the effects of European absurdist theatre and he tried to bring new ideas and methods from European drama into Iranian drama. He committed suicide on 28 May 1987. He recorded his voice at the time of dying.
Sganarelle, or The Imaginary Cuckold is a one-act comedy in verse by Molière. It was first performed on 28 May 1660 at the Théâtre du Petit-Bourbon in Paris to great success. Molière himself played the role of Sganarelle at the premiere and continued to perform it throughout his career. The story deals with the consequences of jealously and hasty assumptions in a farcical series of quarrels and misunderstandings involving Sganarelle, his wife, and the young lovers, Célie and Lélie.
Events from the year 1670 in France
Stanley Hochman was an editor for several New York City publishing houses and also a translator of European literature and nonfiction. Hochman's final editorial position was as Senior Editor at the former Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, which was acquired by Continuum Publishing in 1985, subsequently absorbed into Bloomsbury Publishing. Earlier in his career, he had held editorial positions at McGraw-Hill, Walker and Company, and several industrial trade magazines.
