Jean-Luc Lagarce

Jean-Luc Lagarce (born February 14, 1957 in Héricourt , † September 30, 1995 ) was a French playwright . He is also the most played author in France after Shakespeare and Molière , ahead of Racine and Chekhov .

The simplicity of his words, the depth of his thinking, and the originality of his syntax made him a classic contemporary writer. His texts have been translated into 25 languages and are performed in numerous countries. His work spans 25 plays, three stories and an opera libretto.

biography

Lagarce was born in 1957 in the small town of Héricourt (Haute-Saône, near Belfort ). He spent his entire youth in Valentigney , where his parents worked, and received a Protestant upbringing. At school, Lagarce was introduced to the theater by a teacher of French and Latin. The 13-year-old Lagarce then wrote his first piece for his class, which has since been lost. At the age of 18 he moved to Besançon and enrolled in philosophy and an academy for dramatic arts. His best-known pieces include Derniers remords avant l'oubli , Les Prétendants , J'étais dans ma maison et j'attendais que la pluie vienne , Juste la fin du monde and Le Pays lointain . Lagarce was both a writer and director and founded the Théâtre de la Roulotte in 1978 . He directed Marivaux , Labiche and Eugène Ionesco , then his own texts. He left behind a rich work, including more than two dozen pieces, the essay Théâtre et pouvoir en occident and several short stories (récits).

The Lagarces theater focuses on language, the plays are rather poor in action. He works with inserts, i. H. the people repeatedly pick up what they have already said and modify what they have said. Paradoxically, by striving for precision, Lagarce's text becomes somewhat vague. Lagarce questions people's ability to really say something.

Lagarce is part of school reading in France. For the Abitur (2007–2008) two works were on the official program: Juste la fin du monde and Nous, les héros .

Like the other great playwright of his generation, Bernard-Marie Koltès , Lagarce died of AIDS . He was only 38 years old.

plant

Except for the books, in which something else is expressly noted, all of Lagarce's works are published by Les Solitaires Intempestifs , which he founded with François Berreur.

Theater: 25 pieces

German

I was in my house, waiting for the rain to come in: Scène 1. New French theater texts , ed. by Renate Schäfer, Publishing House of Authors , Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 978-3-88661-211-6
Just the end of the world , drama. German by Uli Menke. Publishing house Felix Bloch Erben, Berlin

French

Erreur de construction , 1977
La bonne de chez Ducatel , 1977, not published
Carthage, Encore , 1978
La Place de l'autre , 1979
Voyage de Madame Knipper vers la Prusse Orientale , 1980
Ici ou ailleurs , 1981
Les Serviteurs , 1981
Noce , 1982
Vagues souvenirs de l'année de la peste , 1982
Hollywood , 1983
Histoire d'amour (repérages) , 1983
Les Orphelins , 1984
Retour à la citadelle , 1984
De Saxe, roman , 1985
La Photographie , 1986
Les Solitaires intempestifs , 1987, not published
Derniers remords avant l'oubli , 1987
Les Prétendants , 1989
Music hall , 1989
Histoire d'amour (derniers chapitres) , 1990
Juste la fin du monde , 1990
Nous, les héros (version without the father) , 1993
Nous, les héros , 1994
Les règles du savoir-vivre dans la société moderne , 1994
J'étais dans ma maison et j'attendais que la pluie vienne , 1994
Le Pays lointain , 1995

Cinema and opera

Quixote , 1989, libretto
Retour à l'automne , script with Gérard Bouysse

prose

Le Bain , 1993, recit
L'apprentissage , 1993, récit
Le voyage à la Haye , 1994, récit
Du luxe et de l'impuissance , 1994, anthology with 11 articles
Théâtre et Pouvoir en Occident , essay
Le Journal , unpublished

Film adaptations

2016, Simply the End of the World ; Directed by Xavier Dolan

Secondary literature

Jean-Luc Lagarce, Simply the End of the World , ed. by Stefanie Gottfried, Neue Schauspiel GmbH, Düsseldorf 2004
Jean-Pierre Thibaudat: Le roman de Jean-Luc Lagarce , Solitaires Intempestifs, Besançon 2007
Lire un classique du XXe siècle: Jean-Luc Lagarce , ed. by Laurent Tainturier, Besançon 2007

Individual references, footnotes

↑ According to a study relating to 2001 and 2002 (table on the Auteurs les plus joués en France website ).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Lagarce, Jean-Luc
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French writer and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH	February 14, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH	Héricourt
DATE OF DEATH	September 30, 1995

[1] According to a study relating to 2001 and 2002 (table on the Auteurs les plus joués en France website ).