La Cerisaie

Edition presented by Jean-Louis Barrault, director and performer of the role of Trofimov, and by Georges Neveux, translator, illustrated with photographic reproductions.

Printed wrapper slightly creased and browned, with a few traces of blue ballpoint pen, weak stitching. Jean-Louis Barrault's signature on the front wrapper and on the half-title page, the latter bearing the inscription "Brochure de travail" in red ink. Numerous passages highlighted with arrows, underlined, circled and struck through in red ink, with a few dog-eared corners marking pages.

A rare working copy of the great actor and stage director, signed and extensively marked in his hand.

In residence at the Théâtre Marigny since 1946, Jean-Louis Barrault directed this masterpiece by Chekhov for the first time in France in 1954. Giving the leading female role of Liubov Ranevskaya to his wife and co-founder of their company, Madeleine Renaud, he himself took on the role of Piotr Trofimov, the perpetual student in love with Mrs Ranevskaya's daughter, Anya, played by Nicole Berger. The play, translated by Georges Neveux (1900-1982), a French playwright born in the Russian Empire, was first performed by the Compagnie Renaud-Barrault during a tour of South America. It was then given its Paris premiere at the Théâtre Marigny on 7 October 1954, under the direction of Simone Volterra, then director of the theatre.

In the wake of the major cultural event that was the staging of The Cherry Orchard by Jean-Louis Barrault's celebrated company, two French editions of the play appeared that same year, 1954: a first, translated by Elsa Triolet and published by Editeurs français réunis a few months before the play reached France, and the present edition, which followed the success of the Théâtre Marigny production and extends the theatrical experience. Indeed, the volume includes texts on Madeleine Renaud, Jean-Louis Barrault and their company, together with a listing of its performances and tours.

Jean-Louis Barrault's personal copy, signed and marked in red ink, recording his reflections on the role of Piotr Trofimov in The Cherry Orchard, a genuine working tool of a great actor.