Theatre in periods of genocide, holocaust, war, terrorism, etc.

[BOURASSA ANDRE G]

Dear Denis, I am never at ease with that kind of comparisons. Claude
Gauvreau, dor example, a Quebec dramatist, was interested in the
revolution of ort, not in the art of revolution. All his Automatists
friends felt the same, as clearly showed in _Refus global_, a manifesto
of which I directed a critical edition published in 1997. Very few people
agreed with this manifesto. Like the Surrealists, his friends, he hated
zdhanovism and all submission of art to politics.. As for FLQ, it was,
like the FLN which inspired it (Algeria), more about political and
financial independance inside precise geographic frontiers.
Terrorism? Yes, but nothing to do with religious war, martyrdom and self
destruction, as we now observe.. The actual situation resembles more the
religious problems of Europe which were solved by the actual distinction
between political and religious powers. Shakespeare, Corneille,
Beaumarchais, Marivaux all dealt some way or another with that problem. In
which of your categories would you put their worK? The end of _Polyeucte_,
which could easily classified as humanist,  could indeed also be
considered as a firm condemnation of Richelieu's war against Huguenots.
Amitiés, André.