After the Liberation, the French Government had appointed
me director of the Théâtre de l'Odéon. I immediately called Jean-
Louis Barrault to my side. He wanted to turn this 'second' theatre
into a theatre for students, workers and young writers. For
reasons which it is not necessary to state here, I soon resigned my
post. Now, fifteen years later, Jean-Louis Barrault, Madeleine
Renaud and their company have come to this theatre and they bring
with them a very varied experience and a repertory which they
have shown on practically every stage of the world. What will they
do, what will be the new face of the Théâtre de France at the
Odâon? These are fascinating questions for anybody who loves
great theatrical ventures.

Gozzi used to say: 'I don't know whether or not men have a
soul, but I feel sure that theatres have one.' The history of the
Odéon seems to show that through its vicissitudes and ups and
downs, this theatre has a soul. Its first director, Poupart-Dorfeuille,
stated in 1795 that his aims were: 'to make of this dramatic institu-
tion a centre for the growth of a new generation of artists pertaining
to all levels of dramatic art, . . . to stimulate the genius of poets
. . . in short to give a new life to all talents which could enhance
dramatic art in France.' One of his successors wanted to make of
the Odéon: 'the theatre of youth, of all new ventures and efforts
for new initiatives.' Another wanted to make of it 'the house of
youth'. Lireux, who was its director between 1842 and 1845,
installed the proscenium, took away the drop-curtain and replaced
it by another device. Théophile Gautier wrote: 'The Odéon is a
necessary theatre: the young poets, the writers who have not yet
made a reputation, all the elements which have vitality and a
future in front of them, need a kind of progressive stage or
gymnasium where they can attempt experiments which would
frighten the cautious habits of the first theatre of France which is
only used to dealing with already well established reputations. . . .'

I was going to continue but I have heard the three famous
knocks . . . a new curtain is about to rise upon a silence pregnant
with expectation, and the pages which you are about to read are an
integral part of the theatre of our time. . . .

Ever renewed, eternal youth of the theatre!

ARMAND SALACROU

11 October 1959 of the 'Académie Goncourt'

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