Medieval Roles for Modern Times

Theater and the Battle for the French Republic

By: Helen Solterer

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Paperback | 14 July 2011 | Edition Number 22

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.1

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Ranging from France to Russia to America in the throes of world war and revolution, Medieval Roles for Modern Times investigates how critics and creators made medieval culture a part of their modern world through theatrical role-playing. On both the Left and the Right across Europe, partisans used drama to express the ideological struggles dividing them. Helen Solterer explores the case of the Th ophiliens, a Parisian youth group in the 1930s and 1940s whose members included Roland Barthes and Alain Resnais. The performances of the troupe--from the Adam Play to the Mystery of the Passion--captured the paradoxes of the French Republic as it was breaking apart.

The book focuses on two key figures of the Th ophilien troupe: founder Gustave Cohen and actor Moussa Abadi. Under Vichy, Cohen went into exile in America, while Abadi went underground. He established a network for refugee families and taught Jewish children role-playing skills to help them evade detection by the Gestapo. Abadi helped save hundreds of children from deportation, and his story of theater and Jewish resistance has never before been published.

Industry Reviews

“[Medieval Roles for Modern Times] makes a valuable contribution to the increasing body of critical work dedicated to the understanding and appropriation of medieval cultural productions by people of radically different religious and political beliefs. . . . The book abounds with information relevant to a wide variety of readers, not just those interested in the Middle Ages or in the history of the theater. . . . The book is so enjoyable and well-written (many passages are so gripping they read like fiction) that it will also be quite approachable to a non-specialist readership. It is a fascinating book, full of interesting details and insights about French society and attitudes in the early twentieth century.”

—Elizabeth Emery, H-France

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