Rethinking the portrayal of violence in contemporary French theater

Violence has been a pervasive leitmotiv in French theatre for several decades. Michel Vinaver's 11 septembre 2001 and Olivier Py's Theatres both deal with collective violence such as the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Algerian War of Independence. Ordinary, non-spectacular violence is the topic of Christine Angot's La Peur du lendemain and Yasmina Reza's Le Dieu du carnage. All four playwrights seem to support the view that the victims are capable of becoming the aggressors, and vice versa. Their aesthetics vary, however, ranging from realistic to non-dramatic theatre as they endeavour to push the limits of dramatic representation, and, perhaps, generate a cathartic effect.