Crommelynck, Fernand (1886-1970). Dramatist with roots in Belgium, where he became known for plays such as Nous n'irons plus au bois (1906) and Le Sculpteur de masques (1908). In 1920 Le Cocu magnifique was staged at the Théâtre de l'Œuvre in Paris with the director, Lugné-Poë, in the principal role. This variation on the theme of the deceived husband gives the old tale an outrageous twist by having the man himself incite others to cuckold him, at first intoxicated by his delight in possessing so desirable a wife and then driven to pre-empt the attentions of a feared seducer. So intense a passion generates a bold farce that is not without a certain poignancy. This production was a pronounced success, but subsequent works were greeted with less enthusiasm: Les Amants puérils (1921) and Carine ou la Jeune Fille folle de son âme (1929) failed to achieve the same balance of the comic and the touching, and disconcerted Parisian audiences with their brusque switches from poetry to vulgarity. Tripes d'or, played in Brussels in 1930, was more warmly received there. His last play, Une femme qu'a le cœur trop petit (1934), confirmed the playwright's vigorous invention by showing how a woman's austere personality drives all in her household to debauchery.
[David Walker]
