Book excerpt: In the years since 1940, French theatre has been transformed both institutionally and artistically. This book compares all the major traditions and tendencies at work in French theatre since the outbreak of the Second World War, not only in Paris, but also in the Centres Dramatiques and Maisons de la Culture. Previous books have stopped short at the end of the fifties when the influence of Artaud was strong and the Absurd Theatre had become the new orthodoxy. David Bradby reassesses Beckett, lonesco, Adamov and Genet and challenges the notion that the sixties and seventies were a period of decline in French theatre. The book proceeds chronologically, offering a critical survey of the principal directors, actors and companies as well as of the playwrights, who are its major concern. Important productions are illustrated with black and white photographs. The political background is explained and all quotations are in English.