The Screens (French:Les Paravents) is a 1961 play by the French dramatistJean Genet.[1] The play's controversial theme of Frenchcolonialism, at a time of unrest inFrench colonial Algeria, caused riots when the work was first staged in Paris in 1966. The work is presented in a stylised, non-narrative form of short individual episodes, linked by the character Saïd, an outcast from society who betrays the rebels.
The play's first few productions all used abridged versions, beginning with its world premiere underHans Lietzau's direction inBerlin in May1961.[2] Its first complete performance was staged inStockholm in 1964, two years beforeRoger Blin directed its French premiere in Paris.[3]
Genet was writing the piece as awar of independence was being conducted in French Algeria. The work has nonarrative structure, but comprises a series of 17 individual scenes depicting insurrection (in an unspecified Arab land) against a mindless and blundering colonial power. Although the occupying army is not identified as specifically French (nor is the action intended to depict the then-recent Algerian insurgence: the French conquest of Algeria in the 1840s is also referenced), when the play was first performed in France, at the eminentOdéon theatre, Paris, in 1966 it was seen as a provocative insult to national prestige and caused serious protest demonstrations.[4]
The "screens" of the title are metaphors: in one sense, for example, they stand for on-screen television news reports filtering out the ugly realities, both physical and political, of war. They also represent symbolically the concealment of "the dynamic between appearance and power" by colonial governments.[5] But they are also realstage properties, mounted on rubber wheels and manipulated, as part of the action, by a visiblestagehand.[6][7] As the play develops, the actors use the screens to make drawings of the scenes being performed.[7]
AlthoughThe Screens has no narrative structure, continuity is provided by the protagonist, Saïd: a poor, outcast Arab who betrays the rebels to the authorities and who appears, or is discussed, in every scene.[8]
Genet began writing the play in 1955 and continued to develop it over the following few years, completing a first version in June 1958.[9] He re-wrote the play further while inGreece towards the end of 1959.[10]Marc Barbezat's [fr] publishing companyL'Arbalèt published it in February 1961, after which Genet re-wrote the play again.[10] It was first published in English byGrove Press, New York in 1962 (translated byBernard Frechtman [fr][11]), withFaber & Faber publishing the UK edition the following year. In 1976, Genet published a second, revised version, which appears in the French edition of hisComplete Works.[12]
The play premièred in an abridged German version in May 1961 at theSchlosspark-Theater in Berlin, whichHans Lietzau directed.[13] A slightly revised version of the problematic German translation used in Berlin was staged byLeon Epp two years later at theVolkstheater in Vienna in 1963.[3] Epp's interpretation emphasised the political conflict between the French and Algerians in the play.[14]
In 1964 in London,Peter Brook staged two-thirds of the play (its first twelve scenes, in a performance that lasted for two-and-a-half hours) at theDonmar Rehearsal Rooms as part of his experimental "Theatre of Cruelty" season with theRoyal Shakespeare Company; he abandoned plans to stage the complete text, partly due to dissatisfaction with Bernard Frechtman's translation. There were no public performances: the rehearsal space was fitted out with seating to form an improvised theatre and the audience for the fully staged and costumed final version was by invitation only.[15]
The play's first complete performance was directed byPer Verner Carlsson [sv] at theStockholm City Theatre in 1964.[3] Its five-hour-long production required six months of rehearsal preparation.[14]
Roger Blin directed the play's French première at theOdéon theatre inParis, opening on 21 April 1966.[16] Genet became closely involved in rehearsals and published a series of letters to Blin about the theatre, the play, and the progress of its production.[17] André Acquart designed the sets and costumes, providing, via three collapsible platforms, four levels which 27 gliding screens divided into different playing areas, with "sumptuous and theatrical" costumes and make-up.[18]Madeleine Renaud played Warda,Jean-Louis Barrault played the Mouth,María Casares played the Mother, andAmidou played Saïd.[19] Disruptions of performances began on 30 April, when theatre seats, a smoke bomb and other items were thrown onto the stage. Members of the audience grappled with the cast and a stage hand was injured. Disorderly street protests, organised by a French war veterans' association, and further interruptions from audiences, continued until the run of the play ended on 7 May.[20]
Blin directed a German production inEssen in November 1967.[21]
Minos Volanakis directed the play's US première at theChelsea Theater Center in Brooklyn inNew York 1971. Two ceilings had to be removed to accommodate the multi-level performance space.[22][23]Patrice Chéreau directed a production at theThéâtre Nanterre-Amandiers inNanterre, near Paris, in 1983.[24] In 1989Joanne Akalaitis directedPaul Schmidt's translation at theGuthrie Theater inMinneapolis, withJesse Borrego as Said, and music byPhilip Glass andFoday Musa Suso.
An abridgement byHoward Brenton, with a running time of three hours, was mounted byWalter Donohue, the RSC literary editor, at theBristol Old Vic studio in 1973.[25][26]