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Saint Genet

Tonight Arena presents a unique interview with one of the great figures of 20th-century literature, Jean Genet. His first novel, 'Our Lady of the Flowers', written in prison, moved Jean-Paul Sartre to declare him a saint and martyr. Genet's plays, including 'The Maids' and 'The Balcony', revolutionised post-war theatre, and his novels, explicit and passionate celebrations of homosexual love, were widely banned. Now 75, Genet remains a self-declared outcast, unrepentant about his past as a thief and prostitute, still questioning society's expectations. In an impassioned outburst, he denounces even the interview itself as "a piece of bad theatre" and turns the tables on his interrogators, asking them some uncomfortable Questions of his own.

English
  • Originally Aired November 12, 1985
  • Runtime 90 minutes
  • Network BBC Two
  • Created October 12, 2018 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified June 10, 2023 by
    zoated