Barsacq, André

THEATRE DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, PLAYWRIGHT, SCENERY DESIGNER (FRANCE)
BORN 24 Jan 1909, Feodosia, Crimea - DIED 8 Jul 1973, Paris
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière des Batignolles, 8 rue Saint-Just (division 25, ligne 21, numero 24 (Bakst tomb))

André Barsacq was the son of a French father and a Russian mother. He grew up near the Black Sea. After his father's death he came to France when he was fifteen years old with his mother and his brother, the costume designer Léon Barsacq (1906-1969). André studied at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (National School of Decorative Arts) in Paris. In 1925 he joined the Théâtre de l'Atelier as a decorator where he worked with Charles Dullin for ten years. As the director of that theatre he staged plays by Françoise Sagan, Friedrich Dürrenmatt and many others.

With Jacques Copeau he staged "Le Mistère de Santa Uliva" in 1933 and "Savonarola" in 1935, both in Florence in open air. Requested by Ida Rubinstein in 1936 he designed the costumes for "Perséphone" by André Gide that was set to music by Igor Stravinsky and directed by Copeau. In 1938 he produced Jean Anouilh's "Le Bal des voleurs at Théâtre des Arts". After that he staged more of Anouilh's work, including "Antigone" in 1944, which wasn't without risk during the Nazi occupation. In 1943 he cooperated with Copeau for the last time on "The Miracle of Golden Bread", an adaptation of a medieval work.

He died in Paris in 1973 and was buried in the grave of his friend André Bakst.

Related persons
• was a friend of Bakst, Léon

Images

The grave of Léon Bakst and André Barsacq at the Cimetière des Batignolles, Paris.
Picture by Androom (02 Nov 2017)

 

Sources
André Barsacq - Wikipedia


Bartet, Julia

Published: 31 Jan 2022
Last update: 27 Feb 2022