Bernard-Marie Koltès

Born in 1948, deceased in 1989, Bernard‑Marie Koltès is one of those shooting stars that streak across the literary sky and vanish all too quickly. His language reflects a world view pervaded by upheaval and the guilt of decolonization; his theatre is urban, ambiguous, seductive. His intense, rigorous body of work includes the masterpieces Combat de nègre et de chiens (1979), Dans la solitude des champs de coton (1985), Le retour au désert (1988) and Roberto Zucco (1988); his plays have been staged by the great Peter Stein in Berlin and, notably, Patrice Chéreau in Nanterre and Paris. Here in Canada, Brigitte Haentjens has directed Combat de nègre et de chiens and two productions of La nuit juste avant les forêts.