Roger Planchon

Born Sept. 12, 1931, in Saint-Chamond. French playwright, actor, and director.

Planchon began his career at the Théâtre de la Comédie, which he founded in Lyon in 1952. His development as a director was greatly influenced by B. Brecht. In 1957, Planchon took over the direction of the Théâtre de la Cité in Villeurbanne, a workers’ suburb of Lyon. When the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP) of Paris closed in 1972, his theater was awarded the TNP’s state subsidy.

Planchon’s productions are distinguished by a contemporary interpretation of literary material, as seen in his stagings of Shakespeare’s Henry IV (1957), Molière’s Georges Dandin (1958) and Tartuffe (1962), an adaptation of Dumas père’s The Three Musketeers (1958), and an adaptation of Gogol’s Dead Souls (1959). Planchon has staged Brecht’s The Good Woman of Setzuan (1958) and Schweik in the Second World War (1961), as well as his own plays, which are addressed to the pressing problems of the contemporary world; his plays include La Remise (1962), Pattes Blanches (1964), Bleus, Blancs, Rouges ou les Libertins (1966), Dans le Vent (1968), and L’Infâme (1972). Planchon is the greatest figure in French theater since J. Vilar. He has continued the struggle for democratization of the national theater. His productions are intended for a broad viewing audience.