Somehow unexpectedly I became interested in the work of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. And what I`ve discovered: almost everything is already translated into Russian, published in several (!) editions, his plays are in the repertoire of many (!) theaters all over the country already... Well, okay, now I also now :)
His “philosophical” plays are interesting – in the sense that otherwise, without that “easy” manner, I perhaps wouldn`t read anything about French philosophers of the past. We all are too busy for that... (*bad joke).
I liked his stories more. Or are they novels? Three of them are written as by a child or a teenager, so we see the story as the young main character saw it. “Oscar and Lady in Pink” , “Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran” , “L`Enfant de Noe” . Briefly, these are the stories of young people in complicated or just terrible circumstances, and how they search for truth, how they learn about life, about people and about themselves. They are not sentimental but they are true. They are worth reading.
Several Moscow theaters have his plays adapted to Russian. “Oscar and Lady in Pink” (14 letters to God) was interpreted by a very reputable Russian actress Alice Friendlich (from St-Petersburg). My web search investigation showed that those plays were played in many towns, in professional and amateur theaters, and always got approving feedbacks and enthusiastic reviews.
As for me I saw “Libertin” last Friday in Moscow and it was good :) Interpreted by the troupe of the Satire theatre . I definitely liked the scene décor – an imitation of the French park, and the dialogues were also distinct and meaningful, not lost anything from the original Schmitt`s idea, so the final applause were merited.
Funny thing – once you are interested in something – you start to see it all around you. Now there are many Schmitt`s books in the shops I see, the French center has his books in Russian and French, they even have a DVD with one of his plays and the film based on his story... He is quite a productive author and well-known in the theater world. The point is - am a bit surprised anyway :)
By the way, Mr.Schmitt was in Moscow, in 2005, for his one more new book.
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