Abstract: Patrice Chéreau’s contribution to the history of Shakespeare’s reception in France consists in three landmark productions: Richard II (1970), Hamlet (1988) and Henri VI – Richard III (Fragments) (1998). Chéreau’s approach to Shakespeare’s plays is to discover what they have to say to today’s actors and audiences about the contemporary world in which they live. Chéreau’s stage language discovers in the plays of Shakespeare a combination of powerful myths, a well-defined theatricality, and characters who are themselves actors. It is a combination that reflects his own view of the world and the theatre.
