René de Obaldia

René de Obaldia (b. October 22, 1918 in Hong Kong) is a French playwright and poet. He was elected to the Académie française June 24, 1999.

He grew up in Paris, studying at the lycée Condorcet before being mobilised for the army in 1940. Taken prisoner, he was sent to Stalag VIII C (in Sagan). He was then sent to the lighter making area in Kransdyhernfurt on the 26th of June 1940, then to a commando at Auras-sur-Oder to clear a forest. Even in the worst moments of this ordeal, he kept his special sense of humour. He was repatriated in 1944.

He began his career in 1960, thanks to Jacques Vilar, who presented his first major play, "Génousie," at the Théâtre national populaire. This was followed by "Le Satyre de la Villette", with André Barsacq at the Théatre de l’Atelier, a comedy which ranked him with his literary forebears Jacques Audiberti, Ionesco, Beckett. He has been, for more than fifty years, one of the most-produced French playwrights on the planet, as well as the most internationally renowed (having been translated into 28 languages).

Critics have admired the remarkable ease of Obaldia's style. His plays always take place within a framework of contemporary times and concern modern subjects, treating these in a comical manner. In "La Génousie," for example, Obaldia replaces normal speech (in French) with Genousian, a language of fantasy, dreams, and love.

Bibliography

*1949 "Midi, poème"
*1952 "Les Richesses naturelles, récits-éclairs" (Grasset)
*1955 "Tamerlan des cœurs, roman" (Grasset)
*1956 "Fugue à Waterloo, récit" (Grasset)
*1956 "Le Graf Zeppelin ou La passion d’Émile, récit"
*1959 "Le Centenaire, roman" (Grasset)
*1960 "Génousie" (T.N.P.) (Grasset)
*1961 "Impromptus à loisir" (Théâtre de Poche Montparnasse) (Grasset)
*1962 "Le Damné" (Prix Italia) (Grasset)
*1963 "Le Satyre de la Villette" (Théâtre de l’Atelier) (Grasset)
*1964 "Les larmes de l’aveugle" (Grasset)
*1964 "Le Général inconnu" (Théâtre de Lutèce) (Grasset)
*1965 "Du vent dans les branches de sassafras" (Théâtre Gramont) (Grasset)
*1965 "Le Cosmonaute agricole (Biennale de Paris)" (Grasset)
*1966 "L’Air du large" (Studio des Champs-Élysées) (Grasset)
*1966 "Obaldia, «Humour secret », choix de textes." Préface by Jean-Louis Bory
*1967 "Urbi et orbi"
*1968 "La Rue Obaldia" (Théâtre de la Gaîté Montparnasse)
*1968 "… Et la fin était le bang" (Théâtre des Célestins à Lyon)
*1969 "Les Innocentines, poèmes pour enfants et quelques adultes" (Grasset)
*1971 "La Baby-sitter" (théâtre de l’Œuvre) (Grasset)
*1971 "Deux femmes pour un fantôme" (théâtre de l’Œuvre) (Grasset)
*1971 "Le Banquet des méduses" (Grasset)
*1972 "Petite suite poétique résolument optimiste" (Comédie-Française)
*1973 "Underground établissement : Le Damné et Classe Terminale" (Théâtre Saint-Roch, Chapelle du Calvaire)
*1975 "Monsieur Klebs et Rosalie" (Théâtre de l’Œuvre) (Grasset)
*1977 "Spectacle Obaldia : Le Grand Vizir et Le Cosmonaute agricole" (Théâtre du Marais)
*1977 "Grasse matinée" (Grasset)
*1979 "Le Banquet des méduses" (Théâtre Montansier, Versailles)
*1980 "Soirée René de Obaldia" (Centre Georges Pompidou)
*1980 "L’obscur procès de Monsieur Ménard"
*1980 "Les Bons Bourgeois" (Théâtre Hébertot) (Grasset)
*1981 "Visages d’Obaldia" (T.F.1)
*1984 "La Jument du capitaine" (Le Cherche-Midi)
*1986 "Endives et miséricorde" (Théâtre Mouffetard)
*1991 "Grasse matinée" (Théâtre du Marais)
*1991 "Les Larmes de l’aveugle, Richesses naturelles" (Théâtre Espace Acteur)
*1993 "Les Innocentines" (Théâtre 14) (Grasset)
*1993 "Exobiographie, mémoires" (Grasset)
*1996 "Sur le ventre des veuves, recueil de poèmes"
*1996 "Soirée Obaldia" - Théâtre Molière
*1999 O"baldiableries : Rappening, Pour ses beaux yeux, Entre chienne et loup" (Théâtre 14)
*2001 "Théâtre complet. Réunion en un seul volume des pièces précitées." (Grasset)

External links

* [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/index.html L'Académie française]