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The Human Voice Jean Cocteau

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The Human Voice Jean Cocteau EDITIONS STOCK, Paris www.editions-stock.fr Maÿlis Vauterin ([email protected] ) Thomas Guillaume ([email protected]) Alix Orhon ([email protected]) The Human Voice Jean Cocteau Theatrical play 1930, 2002 64 pages Rights sold to Italy (Einaudi), Japan (Kobun-Sha) and UK (Oberon Books) Adapted for the big screen (“Voce umana” by Edoardo Ponti, 2013) A woman alone in a room on the telephone, distraught as she speaks to the lover who has left her for another woman. Taking this sad, banal situation as his starting point, Jean Cocteau gives us a mini-tragedy in one act – a strange “monologue for two voices” made of words and silences – in which the telephone plays a crucial role. “There was a time when people saw each other,” Cocteau wrote. “You could lose your head, forget your promises, risk the impossible, persuade the person you adored by kissing them, clinging to them. One look could change everything. But with this instrument, what’s over is over.” First performed in 1930, this text was set to music by Francis Poulenc and adapted for the screen by Roberto Rossellini, with Anna Magnani in the lead role. Jean Cocteau (1889 – 1963) was a prolific and bafflingly versatile artist. As a graphic artist, designer, playwright, filmmaker and writer, and a close friend of many major European creators (from Picasso to Coco Chanel via Marcel Proust), he numbers among those who influenced an era. From amongst his tumultuous personal relationships and his critically acclaimed artistic collaborations, one particularly notable example was the work that brought him together with Raymond Radiguet to write Le Diable au corps. EDITIONS STOCK, Paris www.editions-stock.fr Maÿlis Vauterin ([email protected] ) Thomas Guillaume ([email protected]) Alix Orhon ([email protected]) La voix humaine Jean Cocteau Pièce de théâtre 1930, 2002 64 pages Droits cédés en Italie (Einaudi), Japon (Kobun-Sha) et UK (Oberon Books) Adapté au grand écran (“Voce umana” de Edoardo Ponti, 2013) Une femme seule dans une chambre en désordre téléphone à son amant qui vient de la quitter pour une autre. En partant de cette situation tristement banale, Jean Cocteau a écrit une mini-tragédie en un acte – un étrange « monologue à deux voix » fait de paroles et de silences – dans laquelle le téléphone joue un rôle essentiel. « Dans le temps, écrit Cocteau, on se voyait. On pouvait perdre la tête, oublier ses promesses, risquer l’impossible, convaincre ceux qu’on adorait en les embrassant, en s’accrochant à eux. Un regard pouvait changer tout. Mais avec cet appareil, ce qui est fini est fini. » Créé en 1930, ce texte a été mis en musique par Francis Poulenc et adapté au cinéma par Roberto Rossellini, avec Anna Magnani dans le rôle-titre. Né en 1889, et mort en 1963, Jean Cocteau était un artiste protéiforme et prolifique : graphiste, dessinateur, dramaturge, cinéaste et écrivain, proche de créateurs européens majeurs – de Picasso à Coco Chanel en passant par Marcel Proust –, il compte parmi les personnages qui ont influencé son époque. De ses amours tumultueuses et de ses collaborations artistiques critiquées, on retient entre autres la relation de travail qui l’a lié à Raymond Radiguet pour l’écriture du Diable au corps. .
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