Les Ratés

Les Ratés ("The failures") is a French play in fourteen scenes by Henri-René Lenormand (1882-1951)[1]

The original text

Strongly influenced by Freud and psychoanalysis, the play traces the physical and moral disintegration of a playwright and his mistress, a mediocre actress, who, under the pressure of adversity, end their lives in murder and suicide.

First performed in 1920 and published by Crès in Paris, 1921.

Translations and adaptations

Translated as The Failures (or Failures) by Winifred Katzin (1894-1994) and published as Failures: A Play in Fourteen Scenes by Knopf, 1923

Performance history in South Africa

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henri-Rene-Lenormand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Ren%C3%A9_Lenormand

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/lenormand-henri-rene-1882-1951

Allardyce Nicoll. 1949. World Drama. From Aeschylus to the Present Day. London: George G. Harrap and Co.: p.778.

Sydney Paul Gosher. 1988. A historical and critical survey of the South African one-act play written in English. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

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