Henry Magnan , "Avant la création de Nekrassov au Théâtre Antoine, Sartre nous dit...", Le Monde , I June 1955, 9.
2.
Nekrassov, Sartre's ninth play, was performed for the first time at the Théâtre Antoine in Paris on 8 June I955, and ran for 60 performances. It was subsequently produced in I968 at the Théâtre de Strasbourg, and again in I978 at the Théâtre de l'Est in Paris. The first performance of the play in English was in I957 at the Unity Theatre in London. The text of the play was originally published in extracts in Les Temps Modernes (no. II4-I5 (June-July I955), 20I7-7I; no. II6 (Aug. I955), 85-I25; no. II7 (Sep. I955), 277-323), and an edition was published by Gallimard in I956. An additional scene, cut from the original production and entitled "Le Bal des Futurs Fusillés", was published in Les Lettres françaises, I6-23 June I955, and subsequently reprinted in M. Contat and M. Rybalka, Les Ecrits de Sartre (Paris, I970), 7I4-I9. An English translation by Sylvia and George Leeson was published by Hamish Hamilton in I957.
3.
Anon., "Explosions au théâtre Antoine à propos de la pièce 'crypto' de Jean-Paul Sartre", Le Figaro, 10 May 1955 , 10.
4.
See: (i) Jean-Jacques Gautier, "Au Théâtre Antoine Nekrassov de Jean-Paul Sartre", Le Figaro, 13 June 1955, 12
5.
; (ii) Thierry Maulnier, "L'Opium du peuple", Le Figaro , 4July 1955, I.
6.
Robert Kemp, "Nekrassov au Théâtre Antoine", Le Monde , 14 June 1955, II.
7.
8.
. It was alleged in right-wing circles that Sartre had expressly written Nekrassov in order to atone for the "anti-communist"thesis of Les Mains sales, performed for the first time on 2 April 1948.
9.
The extent of communist hostility to Les Mains sales can be gauged from the following reaction to the play cited by Simone de Beauvoir in La Force des choses (Paris, 1963), 168: "Pour 30 deniers et un plat de lentilles américaines M. Jean-Paul Sartre a vendu ce qui lui restait d'honneur et de probité."
10.
Guy Leclerc, "Au Théâtre Antoine: Nekrassov de Jean-Paul Sartre", L'Humanité, 13 June 1955, 2.
11.
Pierre Daix, "Nekrassov ou le défi de la critique au public", Les Lettres françaises, 23 June 1955.
12.
(i) Claude-Henry Leconte, "La dure bataille de Nekrassov laisse intact le moral de la troupe", Combat , 2 June 1955, 2;
13.
(ii) Serge Montigny, "A la veille de la première de Nekrassov: Jean-Paul Sartre", Combat, 7June 1955, I-2.
14.
Anon., "Lecture de Nekrassov" , Combat, 13 July 1955, 2.
15.
Thierry Maulnier , "Nekrassov au Théâtre Antoine", Combat, 13 June 1955 , 2.
16.
André Alter , "Nekrassov: Un pétard mouillé de Jean-Paul Sartre", Témoignage chrétien, 24 June 1955. It is worth recording that Gabriel Marcel, whilst highlighting the "dangerous" political implications of Nekrassov, judged it to be a superior theatrical experience to Le Diable et le bon dieu ("Nekrassov par Jean-Paul Sartre", Les Nouvelles littéraires, I6 June I955). Marcel's preference for Nekrassov can doubtless be explained as the product of Catholic hostility to the 'moral' thesis of Le Diable et le bon dieu.
17.
Roland Barthes , "Nekrassov juge de sa critique", Théâtre populaire, no. 14 (July-Aug. 1955).
18.
See, for example: (a) Richard Findlater, "First-Class Theatre - Third-Class Politics"Tribune, 13 Jan. 1956, 8
19.
; (b) Ted Gomm, "A Socialist at the Theatre", Socialist Leader , xliv, no. 40 (5 Oct. 1956), 2
20.
; (c) William Salter, "Murrow, Thomas, Sartre"The New Statesman and Nation, ISept. 1956, 241-2;
21.
(d) T. C. Worsley, "The Arts and Entertainment: A Political Farce", The New Statesman and Nation, 14Jan. 1956, 40-41.
22.
Ossia Trilling , "Nekrassov by Jean-Paul Sartre", London Magazine, iv, no. 7 (1957), 75-79.
23.
Jean-Paul Sartre , Les Communistes ont peur de la révolution (Editions John Didier, collection "Controverses", no. 5; Paris, 1969).
24.
See (a) Robert Abirached, "Jean-Paul Sartre: Nekrassov, par le Théâtre National de Strasbourg", La Nouvelle Revue Française, xxxiii(1969), 313-14;
25.
(b) Jean Besse, "Nekrassov réhabilité", Les Lettres françaises , Nov. - Dec. 1968, 26-27;
26.
(c) B. Poiret-Delpech,"Nekrassov de Jean-Paul Sartre", Le Monde , 13 Nov. 1968, 25.
27.
See (a) Jean-Marie Borzeix, "La Bataille de Nekrassov n'aura pas lieu, hélas!", Les Nouvelles Littéraires , 9 Feb. 1978, 3;
28.
(b) Gilles Sandier, "La reprise de Nekrassov", La Quinzaine littéraire , 16 Mar. 1978, 21;
29.
(c) Philippe Sénart, "Nekrassov (Théâtre de l'Est parisien)", Revue des deux Mondes, Apr.—June 1978, 188-90;
30.
(d) Bruno Villien, "Nekrassov, vingt ans après", Le Nouvel Observateur , 27 Feb.-5 Mar. 1978, 86-87.
31.
"Entretien avec Kenneth Tynan", in M. Contat and M. Rybalka (eds), Sartre: Un théâtre de situations (Paris, 1973), 158-9; hereinafter designated as TDS.
32.
For an excellent discussion of the differences between Sartrean and Brechtian theatre see (i) J.-P. Sartre, "Théâtre épique et théâtre dramatique", TDS, 104-51;
33.
(ii) "Les Séquestrés d'Altona nous concernent tous', interview with Bernard DortThéâtre populaire, no. 36 (1959), reprinted in TDS, 299-314.
34.
Guy Leclerc, " 'En dénonçant dans ma nouvelle pièce les procédés de la presse anticommuniste, je veux apporter une contribution d'écrivain à la lutte pour la paix' nous déclare Jean-Paul Sartre", L'Humanité , 8June 1955, 2.
35.
See ibid.
36.
Ibid.
37.
For an account of Sartre's transitional status as a writer in post-war France see my Sartre's Existential Biographies (London, 1984).
38.
Leclerc, "En dénonçant dans ma nouvelle pièce..." (ref. 22).
39.
"Tableau inédit de Nekrassov: le Bal des Futurs Fusillés"Les Lettres françaises, 16-23 June 1955 . In this scene, Jean-Jacques Gautier is cited by name, Champenois bears a marked resemblance to Georges Altman, and Cocardeau to André Malraux.
