Jacques Copeau et le renouveau shakespearien du premier xx^e siècle

Early twentieth-century France witnessed a renewed interest in the staging of Shakespeare’s plays. Jacques Copeau was both a commentator on and the agent of this revival. A drama critic early on, and a spectator at the theatres of both Paris and London, Copeau studied closely the flaws and innovations of Belle Époque theatre. It was Shakespeare whom he chose as the inspirational figure behind his new theatre, the Vieux-Colombier. Throughout his life, as critic, director and translator, Copeau never stopped measuring his art and his thinking against those of Shakespeare.