A new English translation of Jean Cocteau’s Take the Fire will play at the Glasshouse Theatre Company in Paris July 11-28. The work consists of two short plays and one song. It tells of a woman talking to her silent lover, the silence filled by her wit, honesty and courage. A comic piece becomes a tragedy, as the line between truth and illusion is blurred.

The translation and adaptation were done by Helen Lea and Andrew Wale from the original piece, Le Bel Indifferent, Le Fantome de Marseille and La Dame de Monte Carlo . Original music is composed by Perrin Allen.

This creative team won success in Edinburgh and London with Anonymous Society in 1999. That production won a Fringe First and Total Theatre Award for Best Overall Production at Edinburgh Festival 1999.

Karen Gluck and Andrew Wale star in the show. Gluck, an actress and singer, appeared in the Glasshouse’s production of Picasso’s Women and A Resounding Tinkle.

The translation was written for Toye Productions, with Helen Lea and Andrew Wale at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in 1999. Cocteau originally wrote these pieces thinking that “other actresses will come along and find something in (the parts) that will light up some dramatic side of their personality.” The venue for the play is La Boheme, at Theatre les Dechargeurs in Paris, 3 rue des Dechargeurs, 75001 Paris. For reservations, call 33 (0)1 42-36 0002. by Daniel Fischer