The broken architectures of Jean-Luc Lagarce. «Turandot», based on Carlo Gozzi and Giacomo Puccini

Abstract

Jean-Luc Lagarce (Héricourt 1957, Paris 1995) started out as a playwright with the Théâtre de la Roulotte in Besançon, working both on the writing of his own pièces and the adaptation of classics. In 1981, at the time of his theatre company’s transition to professional activity, he directed Turandot, based on the works by Carlo Gozzi and Giacomo Puccini. Usually described as an ‘adaptation’, this text is actually a more complex work. Its composition also involved inter- and intra-linguistic translation and rewriting. This paper analyses: 1) the translation carried out by Lagarce with the help of Mireille Herbstmeyer; 2) the idea of variation on the classics underlying the contemporary version; 3) the author’s resumption and resemantisation of elements contained in the hypotexts. The aim is to understand how Lagarce’s contemporary sensibility has shed new light on the story of Turandot.