The Devils (play)

The Devils had its first performance at London's Aldwych Theatre in February, 1961, with Dorothy Tutin portraying the deformed and hysterical Sister Jeanne of the Angels, and Richard Johnson as the existential hero, Father Urbain Grandier.

The play was subsequently produced at the Arena Stage[2] in Washington, D.C. under the direction of Zelda Fichandler, and on Broadway in 1965, with Anne Bancroft and Jason Robards in the leading roles.

[5] In 1967, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles presented The Devils as its inaugural production,[6][failed verification] directed by Gordon Davidson and starring Frank Langella in the role of Grandier.

[8] The play's action takes place primarily in Loudun, France in 1634 and revolves around a secular priest Urbain Grandier, whose adamant public opposition to Cardinal Richelieu's ongoing centralization of the French government makes him a hot political target.

The investigation, subsequent trial and eventual execution quickly take on a ludicrous carnival-like atmosphere with crazed nuns (including Sister Jeanne herself), dubious medical procedures, ecclesiastical torture and outrageous public exorcisms, all depicted with considerable onstage realism.