The Theatre du Grand-Guignol in Paris (1897-1962) achieved a legendary reputation as the 'Theatre of Horror', a venue displaying such explicit violence and blood-curdling terror that a resident doctor was employed to treat the numerous spectators who fainted each night. Indeed, the phrase grand guignol has entered the language to describe any display of heightened, remorseless horror.
Since the Theatre du Grand-Guignol closed its doors forty years ago, the genre has been overlooked by critics and theatre historians. This book reconsiders the importance and influence of the Grand-Guignol within its social, cultural and historical contexts, and is the first attempt at a major evaluation of the genre as performance. It gives full consideration to practical applications and to the challenges presented to the actor and director and also includes new translations of several Grand-Guignol plays previously unavailable in English.
