Monvel, Les Victimes cloîtrées
Edited by Sophie Marchand
Phoenix 11 February 2011

  • ‘Sophie Marchand’s edition of Monvel’s drame Les Victimes cloîtrées is particularly welcome as a significant text from its period which is little known today but well worth rediscovering, as her critical introduction makes clear ... this is a very welcome publication and is highly recommended.’ — Mark Darlow, Modern Language Review 107, 2012, 1256-57 (full text online)

Alexis Piron, L’Antre de Trophonius et La Robe de dissention, ou le faux-prodige
Edited by Derek Connon
Phoenix 21 June 2011

  • ‘Volume 2 of the MHRA Phoenix series on eighteenth-century French theatre will be particularly attractive to students of early modern French theatre and history ... Connon’s succinct presentation brings to life both Piron and the vibrant theatrical world of the period.’ — Síofra Pierse, Modern Language Review 108, 2013, 304-05 (full text online)

Delisle de Sales, Théâtre d'amour and Baculard d’Arnaud, L’Art de foutre, ou Paris foutant
Edited by Thomas Wynn
Phoenix 31 June 2011

  • Théâtre d’amour has never been published, and so its availability in this volume will nevertheless prove invaluable to scholars of the genre in the eighteenth century, and may also encourage tutors to include extracts in a module on French drama or erotic writing of the period ... The reader will find both works accompanied and illuminated by numerous footnotes, while Wynn’s clearly written and comprehensive introduction contextualizes both works historically and in terms of the genre’s remarkable popularity.’ — John Phillips, Modern Language Review 107, 2012, 1255-56 (full text online)

Laya, L'Ami des lois
Edited by Mark Darlow and Yann Robert
Phoenix 41 September 2011

  • ‘This edition is thus an essential resource for anyone with an interest in Laya’s play, and will be a rewarding read for those working in the area of revolutionary theatre.’ — Catrin Francis, Modern Language Review 108, 2013, 976-77 (full text online)
  • ‘the editors prove overwhelmingly that Laya’s comedy was a veritable social event in its time and is a necessary read today for students and scholars of the Revolution and of its rich, but often overlooked, theatrical culture.’ — Logan J. Connors, French Studies 67, 2013, 254-55
  • ‘on se réjouit de pouvoir disposer d’une nouvelle édition critique séparée et de qualité ... Une bibliographie sélective termine le volume, qui sera incontestablement
    très utile à la fois aux spécialistes du théâtre et aux chercheurs en histoire culturelle.’
    — Jean-Noël Pascal, Dix-huitième siècle 44, 2012, 674

Alienation and Theatricality: Diderot after Brecht
Phoebe von Held
Studies In Comparative Literature 1725 March 2011

  • ‘This is a rich and rewarding study that opens up important new perspectives not only on its two chosen thinkers, but also on the questions of acting both onstage and in society more generally.’ — Joseph Harris, French Studies 66.4 (October 2012), 557
  • ‘[Held's] general principle is surprisingly simple and compelling: While the 'self-alienating artifice' of Diderot's calculating actor succeeds for the most part at immedsing the audience to identification and illusion, there are moments at which it suddenly comes to the fore... Jolted by this 'sudden emergence of alienation', the spectator is now 'faced with her own involvement in the operation of delusion'.’ — Florian Nikolas Becker, Brecht Yearbook 37 (2012), 253-58