About the Theatre

Roland Barthes is not well known to our readers as a theater critic. However, he was deeply passionate about theater, not only as a spectator but also as one of the founders and regular authors of the magazine Theatre populaire. The 1950s were an exceptionally important time for French theater; it was then that the lines began to take shape that constitute the current theatrical landscape. The texts gathered here, whether discussing a critical review of a long-forgotten performance, its political resonances, theoretical aspects, or an excursion into history, invariably touch upon the very essence of theater and therefore remain of interest even today.