Chatterton

Chatterton is a play in three acts, written in prose, by the French dramatist Alfred de Vigny. The piece dramatizes the final stage of the life of the English poet Thomas Chatterton, who took his own life at the age of seventeen.

The young man hopes to make a living from his poetry, but with little success, which leads him to seek work as a domestic servant. He also lives a tormented love affair with Kitty Bell, the wife of his landlord.

The play premiered on 12 February 1835 at the Théâtre Français, with Marie Dorval, then the author's lover, in the female role and Edmond Geffroy as Chatterton. It has since been staged many times on French stages; a notable production by the Comédie-Française in 1947 saw Julien Bertheau replace Paul-Émile Deiber in the title role. In Spain, a television version was broadcast on TVE's Estudio 1 on 22 June 1978.