Olivier Py: Four Plays

This anthology of four plays is the first publication in English of the work of Olivier Py (born in 1965). Excess and a mixture of opposites characterize Py's dramatic universe, which presents the plight of young people today, searching for meaning in a world devoid of values and rife with violence. The dense poetic language is broken by contemporary colloquialisms, buffoonery punctures the characters' earnestness, and eroticism complements the preoccupation with spiritual matters. Presenting himself as a Catholic and a homosexual, Py flouts convention and challenges audiences, yet rewards their attention with striking theatricality and a resonance of significance that is unusual in modern theatre. The four works included in this anthology, Theatres, Epistle to Young Actors, The Exaltation of the Labyrinth, and Youth, are particularly suited to university and theatre schools, both for study and for production. Two of the plays were commissions for the French National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. The volume includes introductions, a bibliography and notes, and, as an appendix, an article by Barbara Mason and Susan Mason, reviewing one of Olivier Py's plays.