ArchivesSpace at the University of Iowa

Jean Vilar was the director of the Theatre national populaire who in 1949 declared, "The pimpa, the whores, sailors, workers, students, concierges, bus drivers, tramps, neighborhood shopkeepers, the pretty young girls on the street, all mixed inside the theater are better for our dramatic literature than the Saint-Sulpicien, the orthodox Marxist, or the committed literi and the ex-prince of the black market." (Walesman; The heroic City: Paris 1945-1958). This polemic with text structured like a telegram from the Lettristes is critical of Villar's current direction (1952) that is taking for the TNP. The peice is not depicted in Acquaviva's Bientot les Lettristes (1946-1977). -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.