Jacques Audiberti
Audiberti, Jacques (1899-1965). French poet, journalist, critic, novelist, and playwright. A fringe Surrealist in the 1930s, recipient of the Prix Mallarmé for poetry in 1937, and author of some 30 novels, he was highly regarded by French critics for his erudition and his anti-war philosophy. Most of his monumental output has been eclipsed, whilst his standing as a playwright has grown steadily since his death. His work expresses a Manichean philosophy, which he called ‘Abhumanism’, an essentially dramatic vision of man and the universe, though in his plays it is often obscured by their verbal profusion.
His better plays, such as Le Mal court (winner of the Prix des Jeunes Compagnies in 1947), have an exuberant baroque texture suggesting a Surrealist Claudel. Most of his plays have been staged by Georges Vital, whose acclaimed 1968 production of Quoat Quoat (first performed 1946) helped to rehabilitate Audiberti as a playwright. Other major plays include La Fête noire (1948), Le Cavalier seul (1955), La Hobereaute (1956), L'Effet Glapion (1959), La Fourmi dans le corps (1961).
[David Whitton]
