Performing Grand-Guignol

From the Preface: 'It is now more than fifteen years since we first began this project to explore the extraordinary, but largely forgotten theatre in Montmartre that was the Theatre du Grand-Guingol. In that time we have run numerous exploratory workshops with students, some of whom are now older than we were when we started all of this. Some of the workshops led to productions; some didn't. But all the work we have done with our student collaborators over the years has led to more knowledge and fresh insight into the Grand-Guignol. 'We have also, over the years, witnessed something of a revival of interest in horror theatre more generally and Grand-Guignol specifically, amongst amateur enthusiasts and passionate professionals alike. We have been fortunate enough to meet with, discuss with, and watch the productions of many of these individuals and companies. We have also published two books on the Grand-Guignol. 'In all our work on the Grand-Guignol we have always tried to be responsive to those who have read the books and corresponded or worked with us, and we have been consistently asked to address two issues.' This new book addresses those two issues - to provide some insights into how the authors have worked with students in the context of their Grand-Guignol Laboratory, and to provide more - and more - plays. This volume includes a brief history of the Parisian theatre, for the benefit of those readers who have not read the previous books. It will also include translations of a further sixteen plays, adding significantly to the repertoire of Grand-Guignol plays available in the English language. The emphasis in the translation and adaptation of these plays is once again to foreground the performability of the scripts within a modern context. Hand and Wilson have acquired extremely rare acting copies of plays which have never been published; and copies of scripts that were published in the early years of the twentieth century but have not been published since - even in French. This volume will include plays written by, or adapted from, such notable writers as Octave Mirbeau, Gaston Leroux and St John Ervine as well as examples by Grand-Guignol stalwarts Rene Berton and Andre de Lorde. Also included will be the 1920s London translation of Blind Man's Buff written by Charles Hellem and Pol d'Estoc and banned by the Lord Chamberlain.