BERNARD-MARIE KOLTÈS

WRITING

Bernard-Marie Koltès (9 April 1948 – 15 April 1989) was a French playwright and theatre director best known for his plays La Nuit juste avant les Forêts (The Night Just Before the Forests, 1976), Sallinger (1977) and Dans la Solitude des Champs de Coton (In the Solitude of Cotton Fields, 1986). A close friend and collaborator with the avant-garde director Patrice Chéreau, the two created groundbreaking work together at both the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City and the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre. At the time of his death, Koltès was considered to be one of the most important young voices in French theatre, and heir apparent to the legacy left by post-war playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Jean Cocteau and Jean Genet.

His plays have since become staples on the modern repertory around the world, having been translated into more than 36 languages. Born in 1948 to a middle-class family in Metz, his life was violent and anchored in revolt.