Anouilh's classic historical tale of conflict between church and state, in a major new translation by Frederic and Stephen Raphael
In Becket, Anouilh presents the history of England under Henry II as if it was France under German occupation. As Henry's long-time political playmate, Thomas's elevation to Archbishop of Canterbury forces him to sacrifice the love of his leader for his newfound love of the church:"If I become archbishop I shall cease to be your friend".
Becket was first produced at the Théâtre Montparnasse in 1959.
"Witty, intelligent, full of repartee and irreverence...it can hold an audience spellbound" (Financial Times)
This new translation is published to tie in with a production of the play opening at London's Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
Jean Anouilh was born in Bordeaux in 1910. He studied law briefly at the Sorbonne and then became a copywriter for an advertising agency. In 1931 he became secretary to the actor-manager, Louis Jouvet, and his first play,
The Ermine, was staged the following year.
Antigone firmly established his popularity in France in 1944, and Peter Brook's 1950 production of
Ring Round the Moon in Christopher Fry's translation made his name in England. His best-known plays are:
Restless Heart (1934);
Dinner with the Family,
Traveller without Luggage (both 1937);
Thieves' Carnival (1938);
Léocadia (1939);
Point of Departure (Eurydice) (1941);
Romeo and Jeannette (1945);
Medea (1946);
Ardèle (1948);
The Rehearsal (1950);
Colombe (1951);
The Waltz of the Toreadors (1952);
The Lark (1953);
Ornifle (1955);
Poor Bitos (1956);
Becket (1956);
The Fighting Cock (1966);
Dear Antoine (1971);
The Director of the Opera (1973);
Number One (1981). Twice married, he lived mainly in Switzerland for the last thirty years of his life. Anouilh died in 1987.
Frederic Raphael was born on August 14th 1931 in Chicago, and emigrated to England with his parents in 1938. He was educated at independent schools in Sussex and Surrey, before studying at St John's College, Cambridge. His career spans work as a screenwriter and a prolific novelist and journalist.
In 1965 Raphael won an Oscar for the 1965 movie Darling, and two years later received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for Two for the Road. He collaborated on the screenplay of Stanley Kubrick's last film Eyes Wide Shut, and wrote a controversial memoir of their time together, Eyes Wide Open in 1999.
