A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Incident at Vichy

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  21m

An intense, meaningful play which deals with the Nazis' inhuman treatment of the Jews—and the burden of guilt which all men must share.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    21m
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
In the detention room of a Vichy police station in 1942, eight men have been picked up for questioning. As they wait to be called, they wonder why they were chosen. At first, their hopeful guess is that only their identity papers will be checked. But it soon develops that all of them are either Jews or are suspected to be. Two of the prisoners and one German policemam are the focal point of the play. The German is a wounded combat officer forced into the police assignment and detests it. More important though, are the other two. One is a former French officer, who has thoughts of overpowering the guard and trying to escape. The second is an Austrian nobleman, who had left Vienna in disgust after the Nazi occupation. A gentle lover of the arts, he despises the Nazis mainly because they are crude, vulgar and tasteless. In the end, the dramatic confrontation is between these two. The Frenchman is suspicious of the Austrian because he is convinced that all non-Jews have within them a strain of anti-Semitism. The Austrian must protest that he is not merely a superficial and theoretical idealist. In the end, he proves this by sacrificing his own life so that the Frenchman may go free, an act that confounds the suspicions of the one he saved, and redeems, at least in part, the concern and honor of decent men everywhere.
History
Incident at Vichy premiered on Broadway at the ANTA Washington Square Theatre in December of 1964 under the direction of Harold Clurman.
Cast Attributes
Keywords

LEBEAU - a painter
BAYARD - an electrician
MARCHAND - a businessman
POLICE GUARD
MONCEAU - an actor
GYPSY
A WAITER
A BOY
A MAJOR
FIRST DETECTIVE
OLD JEW
SECOND DETECTIVE
LEDUC - a doctor
POLICE CAPTAIN
VON BERG - a prince
PROFESSOR HOFFMAN
FERRAND -  a cafe proprieter
FOUR PRISONERS

  • Time Period 1940s / WWII
  • Setting A place of detention in Vichy, France.

Media

REVIEWS

"Arthur Miller has written a moving play, a searching play, one of the most important plays of our time…Incident at Vichy returns the theater to greatness." - The New York Times

"…continuously absorbing…" - NY Post

"A seething, searing and profoundly stirring drama." - Associated Press

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing available for professional groups only. Some restrictions apply.

Scripts

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Authors

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City and studied at the University of Michigan. 2015 marked the centenary of his birth. His plays include The Man Who Had All the Luck (1944), All My Sons (1947), Death of A Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View From the B ...

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