Based on the Spanish legend of the medieval knight El Cid, Corneille’s tragicomedy was the runaway hit of 1636 and sparked La querelle du Cid, an epic literary debate over its shocking disregard for the classical unities of drama. When our hero Rodrigue must duel the father of his beloved Chimène, no outcome can be a good one. And when Chimène’s father is killed, she is torn between her love for Rodrigue and her duty to avenge her family’s honor. And yet, the great playwright Corneille, against all odds, pulls off a happy ending, in this too-seldom produced masterpiece of French literature.
Le Cid is presented by L’Alliance New York, in partnership with Red Bull Theater.
This event will premiere live in-person from the Florence Gould Theatre at L'Alliance New York on Monday, March 1, 2027 at 7:00 PM ET. The recording will be available from 7:00 PM ET on Tuesday, March 2 until 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, March 7. Open Captions will be available from 7:00 PM ET on Wednesday, March 3 until 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, March 7.
THE CAST
ABOUT THE PLAY
Coming Soon
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Pierre Corneille was born in Rouen in 1606 into a bourgeois family. He studied law and became a lawyer in 1624, but was attracted to literature, and wrote his first comedy, Mélite, in 1629. Its success helped establish the Parisian troupe that mounted it, The Théâtre du Marais, which premiered all of Corneille’s plays for the following twenty years. Between 1635 and 1637 Corneille wrote his first tragedy, Medea, followed by The Illusion (1635-1636) and the tragicomedy The Cid (1637). The latter play was so hugely successful that it led the king to ennoble Corneille’s family — but also launched the two-year long “Quarrel of the Cid,” prompted by jealous authors’ virulent attacks on Corneille’s use of Spanish themes and settings, and his lack of respect for the three unities of time, place, and action recommended by the Cardinal de Richelieu. The newly created Académie Française was asked to rule in the matter, eventually compelling playwrights to submit to its decisions, instead of the public opinion, for the artistic assessment of their plays. Corneille nonetheless continued writing and produced successful comedies and historical tragedies, both Roman (such as Horace and Cinna) and Christian (such as Polyeucte). He married in 1641 and went on to have seven children, and after his third attempt, was himself admitted to the Académie Française in 1647. By 1652 the gradual failure of his tragedies led him to withdraw from playwriting for six years. In 1659, the play he wrote on the theme of Oedipus found success, and brought him back to the forefront of the theatrical world. In 1660 a complete edition of his plays was published in three volumes, each play prefaced and analyzed by the author. In 1662 he moved to Paris and enjoyed two years of theatrical hits, but the growing competition and huge success of Molière’s comedies and, even more so, of Racine’s tragedies on similar themes, eventually led to his second retirement in 1674. Still, his plays kept on being remounted, and he died in 1684 a wealthy man. He is now considered to be one of the founding fathers of the French theatrical tradition.
