Catherine Masson

Catherine Masson, a specialist of theater, is especially interested in new and revolutionary forms of theater. Her approach to theater is not only literary and theoretical, but also practical (She has performed with professional actors, designed decor and costumes.). In her class, students are introduced to techniques of acting and directing. She is also concerned with the influence of performance on spectators and has studied surrealist, 20th century playwrights, and contemporary writers. She worked on the role of the stage director as critic, analyst and rewriter. She has created a montage on Jacques Prévert, Pour faire le portrait de Prévert, which has been performed in the US and in various European countries (1996, 2001). Since 2004, her play, George Sand - Gustave Flaubert, Echanges Epistolaires has been performed in France, Switzerland, Monaco, and in the US.  She directed the play which was then published in 2006. She has directed a production of Huis clos by Jean-Paul Sartre that has been presented in Europe and the US. She is currently doing research on George Sand, Marguerite de Navarre and Olympe de Gouges as playwrights. Her book, L'Autobiographie et ses aspects théâtraux chez Michel Leiris, was published in 1995. She has done research on women playwrights at the Comédie-Française and has given presentations on Marguerite de Navarre’s, Olympe de Gouges’ and George Sand's theater. She has written articles on twentieth-century theater; since 1997 on George Sand's theater, on her adaptation of novels for the stage, and on her adaptation of Shakespeare. She has written an article on the reception of George Sand’s work in the US from 1837 to 1876. She co-edited a book, George Sand, une écriture expérimentale and eight plays by Marguerite de Navarre for the first volume of an anthology, Théâtre de femmes de l’Ancien Régime (2006). She is currently preparing a book: George Sand: Novelist-Playwright.

Profile last updated: 7/08