The Screens: Jean Genet

Synopsis:

The Screens is the last of Genet’s plays to be performed during his lifetime. Its subject is the Algerian War of Independence, and it is an intricately crafted, grandiose construction - beguiling and baffling in equal measure.

While the most openly political of Genet’s plays, the work is not revolutionary in intent. Rather, as the play progresses the radical direction of lighting and the use of folding canvases serve to segment and compartmentalise the drama, and in so doing they transform the extremities of war into a series of incantatory scenes, vital and ritualistic, that bring stability to an otherwise unbearable reality.

Haunting, savage and grotesque, The Screens is none the less an emotionally invigorating work that demonstrates redemption through abjection.

Tags:

Categorised as:
Music, Stage & Screen
Sub-categories:
Playscripts
Places:
Algeria
Genres & Themes:
Conflict; Faber Finds; Rebellion; War
The Screens book cover

Selected edition:
Paperback
ISBN:
9780571250325
Published:
19.03.2009
No of pages:
176
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