In the 1950s, Anouilh examined his antagonism with General de Gaulle in L'Hurluberlu, ou Le Reactionnaire amoureux (1958) and Le Songe du critique (1960). He began to lose the favor of audiences and critics alike, however, with the emergence of such playwrights as Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett. Though he shared with these authors a "similar desperate vision of human existence," these new absurdist theatres' pursuit of alternative dramaturgies made Anouilh's semi-realistic plays seem dull and old-fashioned. In the 1980s Anouilh reinvented himself as a director, staging his own plays as well as those of other authors. He died of a heart attack in Lausanne, Switzerland on 3 October 1987. By then divorced from Monelle Valentin, he was survived by his second wife, Nicole Lançon, and four children.
In the 1950s, Anouilh examined his antagonism with General de Gaulle in L'Hurluberlu ou Le Reactionnaire amoureux (1958) and Le Songe du critique (1960). He began to lose the favor of audiences and critics alike, however with the emergence of such playwrights as Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Becke,tt. Though he shared with these authors a "similar desperate vision of human existence," these new absurdist theatres' pursuit of alternative dramaturgies made Anouilh's semi-realistic plays seem dull and old-fashioned. In the 1980s Anouilh reinvented himself as a director, staging his own plays as, well as those of other authors. He died of a heart attack in Lausanne, Switzerland on 3 October 1987. By then divorced from Monelle Valentin, he was survived by his second wife, Nicole Lançon, and four children.