Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp

"All of us can take fright, but it requires greatness of soul to laugh at the moment when not merely life, but humanity itself is endangered."   In my ongoing celebration of all things France I am reading a book called 'The Banquet Years' by Roger Shattuck. It is about the origins of the avant-garde in France from 1885 - World War I. From this book I regal you with the story of Henri Rousseau and the ridicule he faced while keeping his childlike innocence intact. Then our July fireworks reach their crescendo with the spectacular story of Alfred Jarry and his groundbreaking play Ubu Roi that created a scandalous riot when it premiered at Theatre L'Oeuvre in Paris in 1896. Alfred Jarry was the precursor to the Dada art movement, surrealism and the Theater Of The Absurd. Learn all about this man who rode his bicycle around Paris with a rifle over his shoulder, two pistols in his belt and tried to make his life a living hallucination.   I talk about the triumph of France at the World Cup and how they did what Nap