Vitrac, Roger

In 1910, Vitrac moved to Paris . In his youth, he succumbed to the influence of symbolism and the works of Lothreamon and Alfred Jarry . It developed a passion for theater and poetry. A year after receiving a bachelor's degree, he published a collection of poems "Black Faun."

In 1924, Vitrack was one of the first to accept the ideas of surrealism and soon took a leading position in the surreal group. The first collective sessions of automatic writing were arranged in his apartment, as a result of which Andre Breton's book Soluble Fish (1925) and Vitrack's poetic collection Knowledge of Death (1926) were born.

But soon in 1926 Vitrak, along with Supo and Artaud , was expelled from the group: an indirect reason for the expulsion was the opening of the "Alfred Jarry Theater", in the creation of which Vitrac played an important role. For example, several of his plays, for example, “Secrets of Love” ( Les Mystères de l'amour , 1927), a drama with thirty-eight characters, a mixture of irony and eroticism, or the caustic satire “ Victor or Children in Power,” ( Victor ou les enfants au pouvoir , 1928) twenty years before Eugene Ionesco set the tone for the future theater of the absurd ^[4] . The Cambridge Theater Guide describes Secrets of Love as a masterpiece of surreal theater. This work is considered a key piece of the French theater of the 20th century.

In 1928, Andre Breton made an attempt to return Roger Vitrac and Antonin Artaud to a surrealist group: their names appeared in the table of contents of the Surrealist Revolution , but the desired reconciliation did not take place. A little later, in response to the harsh tone of the Second Manifesto of Surrealism, published by Breton, Vitrac put his signature on the anti-Breton “Corpse”.

In subsequent years, Vitrack had no relationship with Breton or with surrealism. However, his dramatic work retained a deep connection with the movement to which he devoted the years of his youth.

Since 1931, Vitrack worked as a journalist, continuing to study burlesque drama, which often combined the genres of tabloid comedy and intimate tragedy.

Vitrack’s plays “The Trafalgar Coup” (1934) and “ Les Demoiselles du large” (1938) did not receive recognition from the public and critics, as did his later and vivid works, such as “ Le Loup-Garou” (1939) and “ Le Saber” de mon père " (1951).

Vitrac died in Paris in 1952.

Only after death does the playwright reach fame when, in 1962, the French playwright Jean Anouil made a successful production of the play Victor or Power to Children .

• Les Mystères de l'amour (1927)
• Victor ou les enfants au pouvoir (1928)
• Le Coup de Trafalgar (1934)
• Le Camelot (1936)
• Les Demoiselles du large (1938)
• Le Loup-Garou (1940)
• Le Saber de mon père (1951)
• Médor (1966)
• Entrée libre (1967) ^[5]

• Cavalerie légère , director Werner Hochbaum - dialogues (1935)

• Mad Virgo ( La Vierge folle ), directed by Henri Diamond-Berger (1938)
• Le Joueur d'échecs , directed by Jean Dreville - script (1938)

• Macao, l'enfer du jeu , director Jean Delannoy - adaptation and dialogue (1942) ^[6]