Description

ORIGINAL EDITION illustrated with a lithograph by Raoul Dufy frontispiece.

AUTOGRAPH SIGNED LETTER TO HENRI BÉRAUD ACCOMPANIED BY A DRAWING.

Musical farce imagined and directed by Jean Cocteau, costumes by G. P. Fauconnet, staging by Raoul Dufy, Orchestra of 25 musicians conducted by Wladimir Golsschmann to music by Darius Milhaud.

Le Boeuf sur le toitor The Nothing Doing Baris  first performed on 21 February 1920. Transpositions of the everyday, that is to say non-sublime, non-folkloric and non-exotic, this pantomime ballet, developed in an American speakeasy during Prohibition, develops the notion of a simplified, violent theatre made up of chance and surprises. The papier-mâché heads, actors and professional clowns perform a series of stereotypes, accompanied by a burlesque musical theme by Milhaud that recurs like a rondo between authentic samba tunes.

Inspired by images from Epinal, with costumes and masks by Raoul Dufy, this realistic dream In contrast to Milhaud's frenetic score, the slow-moving, modern stage set caused a scandal at its premiere. It was a resounding success and the production crossed the Channel to London at the Coliseum.

ONE OF JEAN COCTEAU'S RAREST BOOKS.