Michel Saint-Denis (13 September 1897 â€" 31 July 1971), dit Jacques
Duchesne, was a French actor, theater director, and drama theorist
whose ideas on actor training have had a profound influence on the
development of European theater from the 1930s on.Saint-Denis was born
in Beauvais, the nephew of Jacques Copeau, who had founded the
Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in 1913. Saint-Denis was exposed to
theater early in his life. He joined Copeau's troupe in 1919, after
their return from New York City, where they had performed for two
years. Saint-Denis was greatly influenced by Copeau's approach to
theater taught at his Ecole du Vieux-Colombier, which embraced not
only the play on stage but also the actor training itself. He soon
became Copeau's right-hand man, like Charles Dullin or Louis Jouvet
before him. Together with other members of the troupe of the
Vieux-Colombier, he followed his uncle to Burgundy in 1924, where they
formed a new troupe that would become famous as les Copiaus.In 1929,
Michel Saint-Denis together with some other members of the Copiaus and
with the help of Copeau, moved to Paris and set up the Compagnie des
Quinze, transporting Copeau's teachings on international stages to
wide acclaim. In 1935, he accepted an invitation to London, where he
founded the London Theatre Studio together with George Devine and
Marius Goring, an actor school where he introduced Copeau's and his
own concepts from his earlier experience in France. Working together
with established actors like Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Michael
Redgrave, John Gielgud or Laurence Olivier, he soon became known as a
renowned director. At one time, he also co-directed the Royal
Shakespeare Company.[1]During World War II, he directed the French
programme of the BBC, Radio Londres, under the pseudonym of "Jacques
Duchesne". After the war, Saint-Denis founded a new theater school at
the damaged Old Vic that existed from 1947 to 1952.
Duchesne, was a French actor, theater director, and drama theorist
whose ideas on actor training have had a profound influence on the
development of European theater from the 1930s on.Saint-Denis was born
in Beauvais, the nephew of Jacques Copeau, who had founded the
Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in 1913. Saint-Denis was exposed to
theater early in his life. He joined Copeau's troupe in 1919, after
their return from New York City, where they had performed for two
years. Saint-Denis was greatly influenced by Copeau's approach to
theater taught at his Ecole du Vieux-Colombier, which embraced not
only the play on stage but also the actor training itself. He soon
became Copeau's right-hand man, like Charles Dullin or Louis Jouvet
before him. Together with other members of the troupe of the
Vieux-Colombier, he followed his uncle to Burgundy in 1924, where they
formed a new troupe that would become famous as les Copiaus.In 1929,
Michel Saint-Denis together with some other members of the Copiaus and
with the help of Copeau, moved to Paris and set up the Compagnie des
Quinze, transporting Copeau's teachings on international stages to
wide acclaim. In 1935, he accepted an invitation to London, where he
founded the London Theatre Studio together with George Devine and
Marius Goring, an actor school where he introduced Copeau's and his
own concepts from his earlier experience in France. Working together
with established actors like Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Michael
Redgrave, John Gielgud or Laurence Olivier, he soon became known as a
renowned director. At one time, he also co-directed the Royal
Shakespeare Company.[1]During World War II, he directed the French
programme of the BBC, Radio Londres, under the pseudonym of "Jacques
Duchesne". After the war, Saint-Denis founded a new theater school at
the damaged Old Vic that existed from 1947 to 1952.
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