Program for The Balcony by Jean Genet August 1960

Description

Program for The Balcony by Jean Genet August 1960
Program for The Balcony by Jean Genet, produced at the Circle in the Square, 159 Bleecker Street. Dated August 1960. 8 pages.
The cast included Brooks Rogers, Grayson Hall, Dorothy Whitney, Sylvia Miles, Ralph Drischell, Robert Windisch, Glen Nielsen, Salome Jens, Betty Miller, Roy Poole, Jock Livingston, Joseph Daubenas, and William Goodwin.
The program is in nice condition. There are no rips or pen/pencil markings. Some old folds are faintly visible.
Jean Genet (1910 – 1986) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels The Thief's Journal and Our Lady of the Flowers and the plays The Balcony, The Maids and The Screens.
Genet’s The Balcony (Le Balcon in original French) is considered by many to be one of his masterpieces, though it was written after he said he would give up writing plays altogether. The Balcony was his first commercially successful play. Like many of Genet’s works, the play was inspired by Genet’s contempt for society and obsession with topics such as sex, prostitution, politics, and revolution. Set inside a brothel where common men play men of power in their sexual fantasies, The Balcony reflects on the emptiness of societal roles. Reality and illusion feed off each other in the difficult play. Dreams may make reality tolerable, but when they come true, as when the customers are forced to live the roles they play, it is not as satisfying.
The Balcony was first published in 1956, and was first produced in London on April 22, 1957, at the Arts Theatre Club. Genet did not like the production because it was done in a way that was too tasteful and realistic. His protests led to his banishment from the theater during the production. The play made its American debut in March 1960 at the Circle in the Square Theater, in New York City. There The Balcony ran for 672 performances and won an Obie Award for Genet. This program is from that 1960 production.
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